Thomas and Friends: Frozen Tracks
by JCDKid
Summary: Thomas the Tank Engine stumbles upon the kingdom of Arendelle, where he meets the ice queen, Elsa. Her kingdom is in peril, and he is lost from home, the Island of Sodor. Now, the Number One blue engine must work together with Elsa to help her save her kingdom, and in return, Elsa helps him find his way home. An all-new adventure for the two heroes together awaits.
1. Snowy Summer

It was summertime on the Island of Sodor. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and the flowers blossomed everywhere. It was always busy at this time of year for the engines on the railway. But it was always so peaceful here, too.

Thomas the Tank Engine is the Island of Sodor's Number One blue tank engine, and he loves summer. He enjoys traveling up and down his branch line with the gentle breeze blowing across his funnel and the sun shining on his bright blue paint. He also loves the smell of the flowers surrounding him as he puffs along happily, pulling his faithful coaches, Annie and Clarabel.

A fair distance away from the Island of Sodor, on the southern coast of Norway, is the kingdom of Arendelle. The queen of Arendelle, Elsa, and her younger sister, Princess Anna, rein the throne of the entire kingdom.

Elsa and Anna love summer, too, and they enjoy all the things about it. But they were soon to find out that all the wonders would soon disappear—and they and only one could restore it.

Late one sunny evening, Thomas was puffing along his branch line with Annie and Clarabel, pulling their last branch line train to Knapford Station. It was warm and sunny one moment, but then the air began to cool down a lot, and the clouds in the sky grew darker.

"Clattering carriages!" gasped Annie. "It looks like a summer storm is approaching."

Thomas peered up to the sky, and he could see Annie was right. "I didn't notice the clouds become so heavy," he puffed. "I'd better get my passengers home before it starts raining." He began to speed up a little.

They had to stop at Dryaw Station, which was the last station before Knapford. Thomas's passengers got on and off, just as usual. But as the passengers went about their business, Clarabel noticed something fall from the sky. But it wasn't rain… it was a snowflake! "Thomas," she called to him. "I think that you might want to see this."

Thomas looked up, and he could see snow falling from the clouds. "Snow?" he asked. "How can it snow in summer?"

"We don't know," Annie and Clarabel said together.

As the snow fell, because the tracks were still warm, some of the snow melted into water and then refroze into ice. Thomas could see ice forming along the rails, and he was worried. "I think something's going on here," he said, "but I'm not sure what…"

At that moment, the conductor blew his whistle and waved his green flag, which meant it was time to go.

"Oh well," Thomas said, "I guess we'll have to see if Sir Topham Hatt knows anything about this." He tooted his whistle, and he set off down the track.

Later, Thomas reached Knapford Station, where he found his best friend Percy talking to Sir Topham Hatt, the controller of the North Western Railway. They both were looking concerned, and they were glancing up at the sky.

"This doesn't seem right," muttered Sir Topham Hatt. "It's not supposed to be snowing at this time of year."

Thomas pulled up to the platform and came to a stop. Percy noticed he was looking worried. "What's wrong, Thomas?" he asked.

"I don't know why," Thomas spoke up, "but I have noticed ice forming on the rails on my branch line."

Percy gasped. "Did you say ice, Thomas?" he asked nervously.

"Yes." Then he spoke to Sir Topham Hatt. "Sir, do you know what's going on?"

Sir Topham Hatt looked up at the sky, frowning concernedly. "I'm afraid not, Thomas," he stated, "but it looks like there is a cold front approaching. This is very rare here on Sodor, so I suspect that something terrible must be happening."

Percy was nervous. "What is it, sir?"

"I can't say for sure, Percy," Sir Topham Hatt answered. "But for now, Thomas, you should go and get some rest. There will be a lot more work to do tomorrow."

"That's right. I have to pull the mail train tonight, Thomas," Percy added, "so I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Okay, Percy," said Thomas, and he set off with his coaches.

Thomas had first parked Annie and Clarabel in the coach shed nearby the station, and then he set off back to Tidmouth Sheds. By the time Thomas got there, it was dark. The clouds were now so heavy, they were blocking out the light. However, it wasn't snowing there, yet. All the other engines were there, too. Thomas turned around on the turntable, and he backed up into his berth, still looking puzzled.

Edward the Blue Engine could see that Thomas was puzzled. "What's the matter, Thomas?" he asked.

Thomas told the other engines all about the ice and the cold front. They were worried too, but Gordon the Big Express Engine scoffed.

"Huh!" he stated proudly. "There can't be ice on the tracks during the summer, you silly little engine."

Thomas didn't like being called a "silly little engine". But he didn't argue with Gordon about it.

But Henry the Green Engine began to worry. "What if Thomas's story is true?" he asked. "What if the tracks get too slippery for us to travel on?"

"Don't be so worried, Henry," Emily assured him. "It'll be okay. It's too warm to be icy."

"Exactly," agreed James. "It's too warm to be icy. If we get any weather from these clouds, it will be rain."

Toby the Tram Engine was sitting on the track next to Emily's shed. He glanced up at the sky, and he looked nervous as well. "That won't change the fact that we'll still need to be careful if it happens," he said wisely. "The rails can be very slippery if they get wet."

Gordon scoffed. "Rain doesn't bother me," he boasted. "I am fastest and best, and I pull the Express!"

"Yes, we know," Thomas stated. As all the other engines went to sleep, he looked up at the sky again. "I just wish I knew what was going on," he whispered. With that, he went to sleep as well.

Meanwhile, over in Arendelle, Elsa and Anna were worried about the weather as well; the cold front was over their kingdom as well. In fact, it was even beginning to snow here, too.

Anna and Elsa stood outside their palace, looking up into the sky. "Elsa," said Anna, "this is not right for this time of year. It's supposed to be summer here."

"Well, this time it's not my doing," Elsa stated. "But, maybe I can try to reverse it."

When Elsa had first become queen during her coronation ceremony, she had accidentally unleashed an eternal blizzard upon her kingdom—Elsa was born with powers of snow and ice, but she at first found them difficult to control. Eventually, she had managed to control her powers and remove the eternal winter from Arendelle. But even though Elsa can still bring forth snow using her powers.

Elsa focused her ice powers onto the cold front, making an attempt to stop the cold weather… Unfortunately, it didn't work. Elsa could still, however, use her powers just like normal.

"Sorry, Anna, I guess I was wrong," Elsa sighed. "I guess we may need some help to get this cold front taken care of."

"But who could help us stop this weather?" asked Anna.

"I'm not sure," Elsa answered. "But, we should probably go inside and get ready for bed; it's getting late."

"You're right," agreed Anna, and the two of them headed inside.

Later that night, Elsa was laying in her bed. She was still wide awake because of worrying about the cold front.

"Maybe I could read a book or something to help me feel tired," Elsa whispered, and she walked over to her room's bookshelf. She picked out one book at random, and didn't pay attention to what the title was.

When Elsa got back into her bed, she turned on a lamp and looked at the front cover. On it was a picture of a blue tank engine with a smiling face, and a bright yellow Number One on its side. The book was titled, "Thomas the Tank Engine".

Elsa opened the book, and there was a picture of an island inside the front cover, located between England and the Isle of Man. Unknown to Elsa at the time, that island was the Island of Sodor. Then, Elsa read through the rest of the book, all the while learning all about who Thomas the Tank Engine was.

When Elsa finished reading the book, she quickly found a map of the world and located the Island of Sodor on it. As it turned out, it was close to Arendelle, only a few countries away. "Hmm," Elsa said to herself, "it seems that this Thomas the Tank Engine character has great potential…" She put the book and map away, and then she very quietly walked to her window.

Elsa opened the window, and then using her powers, she summoned a crystal of ice a few feet in front of the palace door. Then, she closed the window and went to bed. The crystal of ice gained power as the snow continued to fall, and from the bottom, two long, parallel rods made of ice began to grow…


	2. The Tracks of Ice

Very early the next morning, Thomas woke up. He noticed that it had snowed last night even though it was summer, and it was still very cold. It was hard for him to even get his steam up properly. But once he finally got up to steam, he puffed out of Tidmouth Sheds.

Thomas puffed along the main line, heading for Shunting Yards to get Gordon's Express coaches. He looked at the scenery all around him; yesterday it was warm and beautiful, and now it was gray and freezing. "I wish I could do something to fix all of this," he sighed to himself.

Then, just as Thomas turned around a corner, he suddenly began to come off the tracks. He applied his brakes and tried to stop, but he somehow didn't stop until he was pointing away from the main line. So, he looked down, and he noticed he was on another set of tracks… made of ice! The ice tracks were diverting off the main line.

"Freeze my funnel," Thomas gasped in amazement, "these tracks are made of ice?" Thomas wanted to go explore the tracks, but he knew he had to get to Knapford, so he tried to reverse.

However, Thomas couldn't reverse off the icy tracks. His wheels were turning backwards, but he was slipping forwards towards the ice. In fact, the more he tried reversing, the further down the icy tracks he slipped, until he was so far down the icy tracks that even Rocky the Rescue Crane's long crane arm couldn't reach him.

He tried reversing again to get back to the main line, and this time, he tried using sand under his wheels. It seemed to be working at first, but then, the ice behind Thomas changed into a set of buffers. Now, Thomas thought he was stuck.

"Fizzling fireboxes," Thomas groaned, "now I can't get back on the main line. What should I do now?" He looked down the ice tracks; they ran into the snowy, thick trees and practically disappeared. "I suppose all I can do is head down these ice tracks and try to find a way back to Knapford."

So, he set off down the ice tracks. Despite the major difference in weight between Thomas and the strength of track-shaped ice—meaning they should have collapsed under his wheels—the tracks of ice held Thomas up very well. Thomas wasn't sure how these tracks had been made, or where they were going to bring him, but because he knew he couldn't get off of them, he had to go on.

Back at Tidmouth Sheds, Gordon was already waking up. He looked at Thomas' empty berth between James and Percy, and he assumed that he had already left to get his coaches. But before he left, he also saw the snow on the ground, and he began to worry about his friend.

"It appears that Thomas was right," Gordon told himself. "But I have a job to do, so I don't have time to worry about Thomas right now." Gordon set off, slowly and carefully, towards the station.

Soon, Gordon reached Knapford Station, and just in time for his passengers. Gordon was waiting at Platform 1, and he waited for his coaches. He waited… and waited… and waited, but Thomas didn't bring him his coaches. He began to grow very impatient.

"Hurry up, Thomas," Gordon groaned, and he blew his whistle very loudly.

Just then, Sir Topham Hatt arrived from outside of his office. "What is the matter, Gordon?"

"Thomas is supposed to bring my coaches to me, sir, but they aren't here, and my passengers will be here any minute."

Sir Topham Hatt looked towards the yard. He saw Gordon's coaches waiting, and they were on the siding closest to the station. "Gordon, you could easily fetch your coaches yourself," Sir Topham Hatt scolded him.

"Huh!" Gordon scoffed. "Big Express engines don't fetch their own coaches; that's a shunting engine's job, like Thomas or Percy."

Just then, Percy pulled up beside Gordon. "Thomas is not at Tidmouth Sheds, sir," Percy told them.

Then, Rosie pulled up in front of Percy, pulling Annie and Clarabel behind her. "And he's not on his branch line, either," she said. "Thomas must be missing."

"Hmm," Sir Topham Hatt said, "that's unusual." He was concerned about his Number One engine, so he immediately went to the phone in his office, and he dialed the Sodor Search and Rescue Center. "Thomas has gone missing; we must send out a search party for him."

Once Sir Topham Hatt was off the phone, he came back outside and spoke to Percy and Rosie. "Percy and Rosie, you two must run Thomas's branch line until we find him."

"Yes sir," Percy and Rosie answered together.

"And Gordon, you will have to fetch your own coaches for a while."

Gordon couldn't believe Sir Topham Hatt had said that. "Oh, the indignity," he groaned, and he glumly set off to collect his Express coaches.

Meanwhile, Thomas was still traveling through trees on the icy tracks. He still didn't know where he was going, but his lamp lit the way for him when it got too dark. "Where does this track lead?" he wondered.

At last, Thomas was out of the forest, but he had already arrived at the southeastern coast of the island, high above the Norramby Branch Line. Thomas knew he had to go back, but he couldn't. He remembered that the track behind him ended at a set of buffers too far away from any other lines, and the closest line was the line through the Fishing Village, far below him.

The ice formed a bridge that crossed the sky in front of Thomas, heading out to sea. "I can't go that way," Thomas stated. "I have to stay here on Sodor." He tried reversing again, but he still couldn't go backwards at all. So, he could only go forwards.

"Oh well," he sighed. "All I can do is keep going onwards until I can get home." So, wheel turn by wheel turn, he set off across the ice bridge, high above the sea.

Back at Knapford Station, Percy and Rosie were doing Thomas's passenger and freight duties on his branch line, while James did his shunting duties—the three of them all had to do Thomas's work as well as their own, and only James wasn't so happy to do so.

James was grumbling as he shunted troublesome trucks in the yard. "I'm such a splendid engine. I shouldn't have to shunt freight cars."

Toby the Tram Engine was working in the yard too. "You should be happy to help your friend, James," Toby told him. "You know that helping a friend is really useful."

"Fine," James muttered. He couldn't argue with Toby's wise old words, so he stopped grumbling about doing Thomas's work, and started focusing on shunting the cars in the yard.

Meanwhile, Rosie was pulling Annie and Clarabel along the section of the main line where Thomas had derailed and then was re-railed onto the ice tracks, when she noticed the ice buffers. "That's weird," she said to herself, "I don't remember a set of buffers being made of ice near the main line."

"What are you talking about, Rosie?" asked Percy. He pulled up on the opposite line pulling freight cars.

"There's a set of buffers made of ice right here, Percy," Rosie answered. "I don't remember those being here."

Percy looked over and saw the ice buffers. "Ice buffers?" he asked. "And, it looks like there are tracks here, too."

Rosie reversed, and then she could see the tracks made of ice that branched away from the main line. "Oh, dear," she said, "maybe Thomas ended up going that way?"

Percy thought for a moment, and then he spoke. "Well, we don't have time to think about where Thomas has gone," he responded. "We have work to do, after all."

"You're right, Percy," agreed Rosie, and the two engines set off.

But as Rosie continued with her journey, she became even more worried about Thomas. "I just hope Thomas is okay," she prayed. "I don't know what I'd do without him…"


	3. Arriving in Arendelle

Over in Arendelle, Anna awoke to the snowy weather and freezing air. Anna was freezing, so she went into her closet and grabbed her purple winter coat and some mittens. She then looked out her window, and she could see Elsa at the front of the palace with Kristoff.

Anna quickly ran down to the front of the palace and met up with them. "Good morning, you guys," she shivered. "Brrr, it's cold outside today."

Elsa was wearing her signature ice dress, and she didn't look cold at all. "Yes," she sighed, "it is quite cold out today. I just wish I knew what was the cause of this weather."

Just then, Anna noticed something outside the gates. "What is that?" she asked. She and Kristoff were intrigued by it, so they went out to investigate. Once they got closer, Anna could see what it was: there were tracks of ice running through the town and all the way towards the mountain ranges surrounding the kingdom.

"It appears to be train tracks made from ice," Kristoff stated. He bent down and carefully observed them. "I think these are just like real train tracks."

Anna was puzzled. "But how could these have been created?" she asked.

Elsa walked up to them, and she chuckled. "By my powers," she stated.

Anna and Kristoff stared at Elsa in surprise. "You created these tracks, Elsa?" Kristoff asked. "How?"

"I just generated a large crystal of ice," Elsa explained, "and then they evolved into these tracks on their own."

"But, what did you create these train tracks out of your ice for, Elsa?" Anna asked her sister.

"It's to summon someone here to help us," Elsa answered. "I'll explain further when he gets here."

Anna stared at the tracks again. "Is that someone coming here by train?" she asked.

"Well, yes," explained Elsa, "in a way."

Meanwhile, Thomas was still traveling over the ice track bridge, crossing the sea in a manner he had never done so before. Since the bridge was made of ice, it floated on the surface of the water quite easily. But Thomas was not used to traveling over an ice bridge.

Then, the snow began swirling again, and it became harder for Thomas to see where he was going. "Oh, bother," Thomas sighed, "I don't think I'm going in the right direction."

At last, after traveling a long way through the swirling snow, Thomas arrived on land once more. But the place he was at didn't look familiar to him at all. "What is this place?" Thomas asked. "It can't be Sodor, and it can't be the Mainland, either." Thomas thought for a moment, and then he had an idea. "Maybe I can find a dock and ships, and then I could sail back to Sodor."

The tracks of ice continued through snowy mountains and valleys, and Thomas knew he could only go forwards. "Bust my buffers," he said, "I don't know how well I can climb those mountains on rails like this. But, I have to try." Thomas took a big puff, and he set off towards the mountains.

Thomas had to climb steep icy tracks that climbed mountains and brake carefully going down again. Fortunately, he still had plenty of sand to help him climb, but surprisingly, the tracks around here were not as slippery as back on Sodor. But by the time he reached a flat piece of land, he was feeling very tired, and he was starting to feel cold.

"Oh, my," Thomas gasped breathlessly. "I'm running out of coal. I hope I can find a place to stop and get some more." With all his puff and all his chuff, Thomas continued down the tracks.

Finally, after a hard trek through the mountains, he came to the top of a hill overlooking a small island. There was a large castle-like palace on the far side of the island, and a long bridge connecting it to a town nearby. There was also a small harbor to the side, with plenty of ships docked up.

"What is this place?" Thomas asked himself. He didn't have anyone to answer him, but he did see that the tracks continued down the hill and into the kingdom on the island. "Maybe I can find some answers if I head down there," he said to himself. So, he set off down the tracks to the island kingdom. Because the tracks were not slippery anymore, Thomas could safely control his speed.

In a few minutes, Thomas arrived at the edge of Arendelle's town. He saw that the icy tracks led towards the large palace, heading through the kingdom. Thomas knew he had to get back to Sodor, and now, the only way he could was to get help from whoever was at the end of the ice track. So, even though he was embarrassed to be seen by people he hadn't ever seen before, and that he was somewhat uninvited, he slowly crawled along the tracks.

The snow was falling very lightly now, so the only sounds that could be heard were Thomas's puffing and chuffing. As Thomas slowly puffed along the ice tracks, he could just faintly hear people whispering about him. They weren't whispering to shame him; they were whispering in amazement at a tank engine like him. Thomas wasn't sure what to say, so he didn't say a word.

Soon, Thomas reached the bridge heading towards the palace, and he began to cross it. When he reached the other side, the ice tracks abruptly ended at closed gates, but Thomas couldn't leave without help. So, when Thomas stopped, he tooted his whistle. Immediately, the palace gates opened, and the ice tracks were shown to continue going all the way to the front door. Slowly, Thomas continued his way to the front door of the palace.

At last, Thomas arrived at the front door of the palace. His tracks ended at a set of buffers, so he could no longer go any further. He puffed right up to the buffers, and then he came to a complete stop. He had also run out of coal, so his fire had gone out and he could not create any more steam. He had only a little left, so he used the last of his steam to blow his whistle once more.

"Excuse me," he called toward the castle, "but I need your help." After that, everything was still and quiet.

Then, in a few seconds, the palace gates opened, and out stepped two beautiful young women: one was dressed in a lovely blue dress, and the other was wearing a purple winter coat. The two women were Elsa and Anna. They saw Thomas, and then they walked over to Thomas.

Once Elsa and Anna reached Thomas, Elsa's face lit up with a very warm smile. "Ah," smiled Elsa, "at last, you have arrived."

But Anna looked confused. "This is our only help?" questioned Anna. "This is just a train."

"Don't underestimate his capabilities," smiled Elsa. "I am very confident that he will prove great help."

Thomas was confused. "You have been expecting me?" he asked.

"Yes, I have," said Elsa. "Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Elsa, and I am the queen of this lovely kingdom."

"And I am Anna, Elsa's sister and therefore, princess," added Anna.

"You are royalty?" asked Thomas in disbelief. "Oh, my sincerest apologies, but—…"

"Say no more about that," Elsa interrupted politely. "Please, just address me as 'Elsa'."

"And please address me as 'Anna'," added Anna.

"Well," Thomas said nervously, "it's nice to meet you, Elsa and Anna. But, please tell me, where am I?" asked Thomas. "I've never been here before."

"This is the kingdom of Arendelle," Anna explained.

"'Arendelle'?" Thomas repeated.

"Yes. So," Elsa continued, "what is your name?"

Thomas's thoughts began racing at a mile a minute; he had only just arrived in the kingdom, via tracks and bridges that were made entirely out of ice, and he already had run out of steam. Now, he was lost and stuck in a land he had never been to before, and the only way he could get home was to get help from people he had never met before.

"My name is Thomas," he said slowly, "Thomas the Tank Engine."

"Thomas…" repeated Elsa slowly, "…the _Legendary_ Tank Engine."


	4. The Legendary Blue Tank Engine

Now Thomas was surprised at what he had just heard. He had only met Elsa, and she was calling him "legendary". But Thomas didn't think he was legendary at all—at least, not for now.

"What are you talking about?" asked Thomas. "I'm not a legendary tank engine. I'm just a little blue tank engine."

"Thomas," Elsa said, smiling, "you aren't just a little blue tank engine. I know that about you, because I've read about you before. There is something else that you are, and I'm sure you must know what it is."

Thomas thought hard, but he couldn't think of anything. "Uh, no?" he puzzled.

Elsa walked to the side of Thomas. "Well, I see the one thing, and the _only_ thing, which makes you legendary," Elsa told him.

"I'm _not_ legendary," Thomas put in.

"You might not understand why you are legendary now," Elsa stated, "but I see the one thing which makes you legendary, Thomas. It's right here, painted on your side." She was referring to his number.

Thomas glanced at his number. "You mean my number?" Thomas asked.

"Exactly," answered Elsa. "Thomas, you may be small, but you _are_ Number One."

Anna didn't understand what Elsa was saying, either. "Elsa, I don't think a number means anything special," she explained.

But Elsa still remained happy and kind. "I'm pretty sure Thomas here has earned his Number One," she smiled. "He's a very kind and sweet tank engine."

Thomas blushed slightly. "Well, thank you, Elsa," he sighed embarrassedly, "but right now, I certainly don't feel like I'm Number One." Thomas sighed deeply and sounded unhappy. "I've run out of coal, so I can't go anywhere more. I also have no idea how these ice tracks could possibly bring me here."

"These ice tracks?" Elsa asked, and she came up to look Thomas in his face. All the while, she continued smiling. "Why, these were my doing, Thomas," she replied.

Now, Thomas was surprised. "You made these, Elsa?" he asked. "How?"

"I have the ability to control ice and snow to my liking," explained Elsa. "I used that power to generate the tracks that you are standing on."

Thomas was amazed to learn about Elsa. "Wow," he said in awe. "It sounds so interesting to be able to control ice." But then, he remembered that he was cold, and his nose and cheeks turned red. "Brrr," he shivered, "it's so cold outside."

"Why don't we head inside instead of standing out here in the freezing cold?" suggested Anna.

"I agree," smiled Elsa. "What do you say, Thomas?"

"I can't," Thomas frowned. "I have no steam, and I haven't gotten any tracks leading to where you mean that I can run on anyway, either. So, what can I do?"

"Hold on," Elsa responded, "I can help you with that." Elsa walked behind Thomas and used her ice powers to grab the ice tracks and absorb them into her arms. She absorbed the tracks as far back as where Thomas had originally come off, and then all the way back to where Thomas stood now.

Thomas felt his wheels gently hit the ground beneath him, and he saw the tracks disappear. "Oh no," he sighed, "now what can I do? I can't move without tracks."

"Maybe not now," Elsa stated, "but stay still."

Thomas knew that standing still was all he _could_ do now, so he obviously stood still.

Elsa leaned her hands towards Thomas's body, and she transferred the exact amount of ice that the entire line of tracks was made of into his cab and tanks.

For a moment, Thomas felt his entire body grow bitter cold, but then after that was done, he felt warm once more.

"What… happened?"

Elsa came back around to the front of Thomas and looked him in the eyes. "Try moving, Thomas."

Thomas was confused. "I, uh," he nervously stated, "I can't."

"Try."

"How?" Thomas asked.

"Focus."

Thomas wasn't sure what Elsa meant, but after a moment of thought, he suddenly felt tracks of ice form under his wheels. "Okay," he sighed, "you can stop, Elsa."

"It's not me," Elsa denied. "I'm being honest."

Thomas paused after hearing that. The tracks were being controlled, but if Elsa wasn't controlling them, then that meant…

"Am _I_ controlling these?" Thomas asked.

"Yes, you are," smiled Elsa.

"Wow," Thomas gasped. "So, I can control tracks made of ice now?"

"Yes, you can."

"But how can I move along them?" Thomas asked. "It's no use having tracks if I can't—…" Just as he stated that, he began to move forward along his ice tracks… on his own!

"Can't what?" asked Elsa nonchalantly. She had given Thomas the ability to move on his own without coal and water by harnessing the powers of ice and tracks, but she was pretending not to know.

"…Nothing," Thomas smiled. "Let's go." Then he, Elsa, and Anna headed inside the palace.

Inside one of the big rooms of the palace, Anna, Elsa, and Thomas sat by a fire in the fireplace, where it was warm and cozy.

"So, Thomas," said Elsa politely, "as I have said, I have read about you. But please, tell us about yourself."

"Well," Thomas began, "I live on the Island of Sodor, which is near England."

"England," repeated Anna, "that isn't very far from here, is it?"

"No, it isn't. We are on the south end of Norway," added Elsa.

As much as Thomas wanted to go home now that he had the power to do so, he didn't dare to do so. He figured that Elsa and Anna had brought him here for a reason, and that Elsa gave him these powers to help him in helping them accomplish that goal. That had to mean that if she gave them to him, he figured she could just as easily take them away from him if he tried to abandon them—not like he _would,_ anyway.

"I am usually called a little engine by some of the other engines on Sodor who are bigger than me," Thomas continued, "but I have my very own branch line, which I proudly run every day with my two coaches, Annie and Clarabel."

"That sounds like a very important responsibility for any everyday tank engine like you, Thomas," Anna replied.

"Maybe so, but Sir Topham Hatt, the controller of the railway, says that I'm a really useful engine."

"Of course, you are a really useful engine, Thomas," complemented Elsa. "How else would your controller believe that you have the responsibility to run an entire branch line all by yourself?"

"I don't know."

"I have read that about you, and that's why I have asked you to come here, Thomas," stated Elsa. "The cold front we are experiencing is not meant for this time of year, so something or somebody must be attempting to use it for evil. And we need the help of somebody who is reliable and really useful to restore summer."

Thomas looked down and blushed. "And I take it that somebody… is me."

"Correct," said the two sisters together.


	5. The Evil Arrives

On top of the highest mountain in the world—Mount Everest, on the border of China and Nepal—was the eye of the snowstorm that was now spreading all across the planet. Here, the snow was glowing white all over the mountain, without a footprint to be seen.

Standing on the summit of Mount Everest was a tall and pale woman, one whom neither Thomas nor Elsa had ever seen before. She was dressed in a dark blue coat, gray snow pants, black snow boots, and a blood red scarf. She wore neither gloves nor a hat, and she had dark brown hair flowing down in a ponytail.

She seemed to have the power of ice as well, only the ice she controlled was much grayer and redder than Elsa's, which seemed to represent evil. "At long last," she stated coldly, "I have the power to rule the world. I possess the power to freeze the world alive, and nobody will stand in my way."

The woman began to blast beams of ice at some of the snow on the mountain, causing it to break loose and start an avalanche. The snow fell all the way to the bottom of the mountain, burying the plants and landscape at the bottom in white, freezing snow. Then, she harnessed her ice powers into her own body, causing her to start to fly. With that, she headed in the direction of Arendelle.

Back in Arendelle, Elsa and Anna were still talking to Thomas when they heard a knock at the door. Without a second to spare, Kristoff rushed inside, riding his reindeer, Sven. "Elsa! Anna!" he called. "It's an emergency!"

"What's the matter?" asked Anna.

"There's something flying towards the kingdom, shooting beams of ice at whatever is not buried in snow or frozen."

"Show us, Kristoff," stated Elsa. Then she turned to Thomas. "I think you'd better come too, Thomas."

"Okay," Thomas agreed, so he followed Kristoff and Sven, Anna, and Elsa outside.

Out in the middle of town, they found Olaf the Snowman. He was looking up into the sky through an icicle, using it as a telescope.

"Olaf," asked Elsa, "what are you doing?"

"I'm looking out for that monstrous person who's freezing everything," Olaf explained. But when he turned around, he was shocked to see Thomas. Immediately, though, he turned cheerful. "Hi," he said, "I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs."

Thomas had never met a talking snowman before. "Who is this, Elsa?"

"That's Olaf. He's a snowman Anna and I created when we were little, and I brought him to life with my powers." Then she spoke to Olaf and Kristoff. "Olaf, and Kristoff, this is Thomas the Tank Engine. He's from the Island of Sodor, and he's here to help us stop this snowstorm."

"But he's only a train," Kristoff puzzled.

"By appearances, yes," Elsa corrected, "but I have given him the ability to run on and control tracks made of ice on his own—that was how he came to Arendelle in the first place. This way, he can still move and go anywhere."

Kristoff climbed off Sven approached Thomas. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Thomas. I'm Kristoff, and this is my reindeer, Sven."

Sven came over and sniffed Thomas's face to get to know him.

But just then, Elsa jumped back, narrowly missing a beam of ice, which therefore hit the ground behind her. "Whoa!" she gasped. "What was that?"

Everyone looked up and saw the woman who was on Mount Everest. "Drat," she groaned. "I missed that blue train."

"'Blue train'?" asked Thomas. "You mean me?"

The woman, shocked to discover that Thomas was alive, floated down to the ground and slowly approached him. "You can talk?" she asked.

"Yes, I can talk," Thomas said.

"Who are you?" asked Elsa.

"My name is Glacia," answered the woman. "My name stems from the fact that I was born with powers over ice."

"You have powers of ice, too?" asked Elsa. Now, she grew angry. "And you're using them to hurt innocent people?!"

Glacia's eyes glared at her evilly. "What more would you expect? If I am attempting to rule the world, then I have no choice but to stop anyone who would dare to oppose me… like you." She began to charge up another beam of subzero ice to launch at Elsa.

At that moment, however, Thomas spoke up in an attempt to protect her. "Don't hurt Elsa, or I will hurt you!"

Upon hearing this, Glacia paused. "So, 'Elsa' is her name?"

"Yes," answered Elsa, trying to act brave. But she was trying so hard, her ice powers began to summon crystals out of the ground around Glacia.

"And you have cryokinesis as well," added Glacia.

Elsa, realizing that she revealed her powers, tried to step backwards, but she was caught by her own ice crystals! Glacia had taken them under _her_ control!

"You're not getting away," she stated, and she began to charge up her ice blast once more.

Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, and Sven didn't dare try attacking, so they all stepped backwards to avoid Glacia's icy punishment unto Elsa. But Thomas didn't. Thinking fast, he summoned a set of tracks that went around Elsa and would hit Glacia, and he went along them himself.

"Thomas, wait!" called Anna.

But it was too late. Thomas hit Glacia just as she was about to fire the blast, causing her to lose her aim and fire it off into the sky.

Glacia wasn't hurt, but she was surprised. "What the…?" She noticed Thomas's ice tracks, and that he had created them himself.

"So," Glacia chuckled. "You aren't just a train after all." Then she stood up again and began to taunt Thomas. "I suppose a little train like you is good for something after all, and not just standing around."

Thomas, embarrassed, reversed away from her.

"But why don't you just head off to the nearest ice factory," Glacia scoffed, "and let yourself create ice cubes that I can place in my morning iced coffee."

"Leave Thomas alone!" Elsa screamed at her. Feeling all her strength come into her body, she broke free of her ice cage and stood firmly, facing Glacia.

But now Glacia seemed impressed. "Well, Elsa," she grinned evilly, "I suppose you might just be powerful enough to oppose me after all."

Elsa didn't say a word; she just eyed Glacia, angrily.

"And as for you," Glacia continued, directing her attention to the blue tank engine. "Thomas, was it?"

"Yes."

"If you have the ability to create and control tracks made of ice on your own, then why don't the three of us have a little chat tomorrow?"

Thomas wasn't sure if he should listen to Glacia. This could be a trap, he thought.

Glacia levitated in the air again using her power of ice and eyed the two of them. "Meet me on an island situated in the Irish Sea, tomorrow at 9:00 am. Don't be late." With that, she flew away.

Thinking about what Glacia had said, Thomas gasped. "That's _my_ island!" He couldn't believe that Glacia was going to try to harm the Island of Sodor!

Thomas quickly spoke to Elsa and Anna. "Elsa, Anna, I have to get back to the Island of Sodor before Glacia gets there and freezes it!"

Elsa and Anna looked at each other, and they nodded in agreement.

"Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven," Elsa declared, "I am relying on you three to take care of things here while we're gone—all three of us are going to Thomas's island."

"Okay," Kristoff promised, "we promise, we'll look after Arendelle."

"Don't worry, Elsa," said Olaf. "The three of us will make sure the kingdom is as safe as a snowman in winter… like me."

"Okay Olaf," chuckled Anna, and she knelt down so Olaf could give her a warm hug. Then he hugged Elsa too.

As soon as that was done, Elsa and Anna climbed into Thomas's cab. "Hold on," he told them. "Here we go!" Thomas summoned his ice tracks underneath his wheels, and he rode along them, carrying Elsa and Anna with him, heading back towards the Island of Sodor.

But Olaf was still amazed. "Wow," he gasped. "That blue train is so cool. I bet he must be the number one blue train in the whole world!" Little did Olaf know yet, that he was right.


	6. Sneaking Around Sodor

It took them the rest of the morning, but Thomas, Anna, and Elsa finally arrived at the shore where Thomas had previously come from. But since the bridge he came on was one in the same with the ice tracks, it was gone.

"Elsa," asked Thomas, "if I can bend ice tracks to my personal interest, could I use my powers to change how high the tracks go, like as if I were on a hill?"

"You mean the elevation of the tracks?" Elsa clarified. "Of course you can; your powers will create ice structures that will hold the tracks in place by linking onto whatever is necessary—for example, if you need to cross the sea, your powers will generate a bridge under your tracks. And they will only melt when either you or I control them to be reabsorbed into your body to be used again."

"Okay," Thomas stated, "here we go!" Using his powers to raise his angle of elevation, Thomas raced along over the sea. His powers created a bridge underneath his icy tracks wherever he went.

By lunchtime, Thomas, Elsa, and Anna reached the Island of Sodor. They arrived at Brendam Docks, where Cranky the Crane was unloading a cargo ship, and Salty and Porter were shunting trucks for Cranky to load the cargo onto.

Thomas made his ice tracks connect with the real tracks at the bend next to the other crane, and once Thomas was back on real tracks, he began to puff slowly away. He had hoped nobody had seen him. But just as he was about to slip out of the Docks unnoticed, he heard a voice:

"Thomas? Is that you?" It was Cranky the Crane. He had seen Thomas sneak into the Docks by using his ice tracks, and now he was puzzled as to what was going on. Luckily, he hadn't seen Elsa or Anna.

"Freezing funnels," Thomas whispered, "I've been spotted!"

"Why is that so—…?" Elsa began loudly, but before she could say anything else, Thomas shushed her.

"Shh!"

"Why is that so big a deal, Thomas?" Elsa whispered.

"I've been gone for so long today; I'd expect Sir Topham Hatt sent a search party out to find me," Thomas hoarsely explained. "I don't want everyone to make such a big cheer out of it, especially since I'm like this now, with my ice."

But Salty and Porter were already approaching Thomas from behind.

"Thomas?" asked Salty. "Is that you, me hearty?"

"Stay low," Thomas whispered to Elsa and Anna. "I don't want anyone to see you."

Elsa and Anna ducked low into his cab just as Porter came up alongside Thomas. Porter didn't see them ducking down in Thomas's cab, and neither did Salty.

"Where have you been all morning, Thomas?" asked Porter. "Sir Topham Hatt was worried about you."

Thomas had to make an excuse to get out of the Docks, so he quickly came up with the first one that flew into his funnel. "I've been working my branch line, Porter."

"Argh," said Salty. "Maybe it's just the sea air flowin' through me engine, but I remember Percy sayin' he was workin' your branch line today."

"Oh," said Thomas nervously. He had to continue thinking up his story. "Right; well I, uh… I've been working on the far end of my branch line, at Ffarquhar Quarry."

Then, Thomas heard Gordon's whistle; he was going to be approaching with the Express any second, so Thomas now had to get out of the Docks.

"I'd better get back to Knapford Station," Thomas wheeshed quickly. "If I don't get going, Sir Topham Hatt might be wondering where I am." With that, Thomas quickly steamed away. He was out of sight before Gordon came up on the track behind him.

"That's strange," Porter puzzled. "I wonder why Thomas was so eager to get going."

Before Salty could say anything, Gordon blew his whistle loudly. He was right behind him, on the same track. "Out of my way! Express coming through!"

Salty and Porter didn't have time to wonder why Thomas was acting so strange; they had to get out of Gordon's way. So they rushed off and hurried back to work as fast as their pistons would pump.

Thomas was racing along the main line as fast as his wheels could whir. He was hoping that nobody else would be there to see him.

"Thomas," asked Anna, "where are we going?"

Thomas had a plan. "We're going to the one place on Sodor where I know nobody will ever find me: the Ffarquhar Quarry."

"How won't you be seen?" asked Elsa.

"You'll see once we get there."

Thomas soon reached the center of the quarry, and he looked around. Luckily, he didn't see any other engines anywhere. "Okay," he whispered, "here we go." Thomas used his ice to create a long line of tracks ascending up to the top of the quarry wall; there were absolutely no tracks, roads, or trails there.

As soon as Thomas was on top of the wall of the quarry, he settled down beside a large boulder. "Phew," he sighed. "We'll hide up here for now, and once the coast is clear, we'll head out again."

Elsa and Anna climbed out of Thomas's cab and stood next to him. They all were feeling exhausted after their running from others just to hide.

Suddenly, Thomas's eyes began to feel heavy. He remembered that he had gotten up very early that morning, and he also remembered he was still feeling tired. "While we're up here," he yawned, "I think I'll close my eyes and have a rest for a while."

Seeing Thomas made Anna feel sleepy, too. "I like that idea," she yawned as well. By now, she felt so tired that she couldn't stay standing up. So, she sat down in the snow next to Thomas and let her head fall into the snow. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

But Elsa was worried. "Guys, we can't just let our guards down now. We have to be ready for…" Suddenly, she yawned too.

"Elsa," said Thomas sleepily, "we'll be fine for now. Nobody will find us up here, and even if they do, they can't get to me." Those were the final words he said before his droopy eyes closed completely.

Elsa sat down on Thomas's front end. Her feet were dangling above the snow-covered ground. "Well, I'm not tired," she responded, but just then another yawn slipped out of her mouth. "I'm… not…"

Elsa was so tired that she didn't notice her right shoe slip off her foot and land in the snow… then the other. "Well," she yawned, "maybe I am… a little…" With one more yawn, her whole body drooped slowly backwards, and her head leaned against Thomas's footplate. "…sleepy…"

With that, Elsa immediately gave in to sleepiness, her eyes closed, and she fell asleep. Elsa still didn't notice that she was barefoot until the cold wind gently blew between her toes. Feeling the wind tickle her toes, Elsa bent her knees and brought her legs in, under her dress as a makeshift blanket.

The three friends stayed there, snoozing sleepily as the wind and snow gently continued around them.

Meanwhile, over at Knapford Station, Sir Topham Hatt was still worried about Thomas, and so was Percy.

Then, Salty and Porter pulled up into the station.

"Sir," said Porter, "Salty and I saw Thomas at the Docks a while ago."

"Really?" asked Percy. "What was going on?"

"We just happened to see him," explained Salty, "and he said that he's been workin' at the quarry all mornin'."

"Then he said that he was coming back here," explained Porter.

Sir Topham Hatt listened carefully. Then he thought for a moment. "Hmm, well, Thomas never came back here, so my guess is that the quarry is the first place we look for him at."

"But it'll be hard to find Thomas in the quarry using an engine's point of view, sir," Percy responded.

"You're right, Percy," agreed Sir Topham Hatt. "So that means, I'll have to find Thomas from the air."


	7. On the Run

Over in Arendelle, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf were still looking out for the rest of the people, keeping them warm and comfortable, and ensuring they all had food, shelter, and water.

But Olaf was beginning to worry about the girls and Thomas. "Kristoff," said Olaf, "I don't know what Elsa and Anna are up to, but I just hope they'll be all right."

"They'll be okay, Olaf," assured Kristoff. "You know that Elsa can protect herself and her sister with her ice powers."

Sven rubbed his nose against Olaf's face in agreement, in the manner of comforting him.

"Oh, I know that," Olaf continued, "but I'm also concerned about that blue train that was with them—I think his name was…" But Olaf couldn't remember.

"That was Thomas," Kristoff reminded him. "And remember, Elsa gave Thomas the power to control tracks made of ice, Olaf. Together, the two of them can protect each other."

"Even against that woman who tried to destroy him?"

"Yes."

Olaf still was worried about his friends, but Kristoff's reassuring words made him feel better. "And, I think I said he must be the number one blue train in the whole world."

Sven spoke something in his reindeer language to Kristoff.

"Well, Sven remembers that Thomas did have a number on his side. It was the number one, so he probably is the number one blue tank engine in the world."

A little while later, Anna woke up. The sky was still covered with snow clouds, but it was getting darker now. It was the evening, and Anna stood up. She felt much more refreshed.

"Elsa," whispered Anna, and she looked towards her sister, who was still sleeping on Thomas's footplate. Thomas was still sleeping too.

Anna walked over to the front of Thomas when she tripped on something in the snow. "What was that?" she whispered. She bent down and brushed away the snow, and she found Elsa's shoes. Maybe Elsa's shoes slipped off her feet when she fell asleep, she thought, but how can I wake her up?

Anna thought for a moment, and then she realized something; if Elsa didn't have her shoes on, then she was barefoot. At that moment, Elsa put her feet out again, no longer feeling cold. So, Anna reached over and tickled her sister's feet.

Elsa felt Anna tickling her feet, and she began giggling slightly, and then she opened her eyes and saw Anna. "Anna?" asked Elsa. "Was that you tickling my feet?"

"Yes," said Anna. "I believe you dropped something, Elsa?"

Elsa sat up, and at that moment she realized she was barefoot. "Where are my shoes?"

"I found them buried in the snow," answered Anna, and she picked them up and gave them to her sister. "Here, Elsa."

"Thank you, Anna," said Elsa gratefully. "I must have dropped them when I fell asleep, so no wonder my feet were cold." She took her shoes back and put them back on her feet. Then, she stood up and gave her sister a warm hug.

Elsa looked up at Thomas, and she saw he was still sleeping. "Thomas," she started, but Thomas didn't hear her. Then she looked at Anna. "How can we wake Thomas up?"

Anna walked over to Thomas's cab and climbed in, with Elsa following her. Anna looked up at Thomas's whistle chain, which gave her an idea. "If we can blow Thomas's whistle, he might wake up," she responded.

Elsa wasn't sure if it was right to wake Thomas up by blowing his whistle, but she knew that her ice wouldn't bother Thomas since he controlled it in the form of tracks. "Well, it's worth a try," she admitted. "Let's do it."

Anna reached up and pulled the chain. Immediately, Thomas's whistle blew with a loud, long, _peep-peep!_

Not too far away, Harold the Helicopter was flying with Sir Topham Hatt, looking for Thomas. Harold heard Thomas's whistle, especially since its sound reverberated through the quarry walls.

"Sir," said Harold, "I hear Thomas's whistle. It's definitely coming from the quarry."

"Let's head there, Harold," said Sir Topham Hatt, and they flew off after the sound.

Thomas was startled awake by his own whistle. "What was that?!" he gasped.

Anna and Elsa chuckled slightly at Thomas's reaction, but unfortunately, they weren't hiding from Thomas.

Thomas knew that Elsa and Anna were in his cab, since nobody else could possibly have gotten up to him, and he grew angry. "Elsa! Anna! Why would you do that?" he scolded.

"I did it," admitted Anna. She knew that Thomas wasn't happy, and she didn't want him to be angry. So, she walked over to the front of Thomas and looked at him in his face. "I just wanted you to wake up before it got too dark. I'm sorry," she apologized.

Then Elsa came up beside her. "I'm sorry, too, Thomas," she apologized. "I was the one who told Anna that it was worth a try."

Thomas looked at his friends. They were genuinely sorry, so he couldn't stay angry anymore. So, he smiled and calmed himself down. "Oh, it's okay. I'm glad you woke me up."

Elsa and Anna were happy that Thomas forgave them. So, because they couldn't contain their happiness, they both stepped up and kissed Thomas's cheeks.

Thomas blushed, but then he heard something. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

Anna listened carefully. "Yeah, I hear it, but what is it?"

"It sounds like… a helicopter whirring," Elsa replied.

"Helicopter?" asked Thomas. "Oh no, it must be Harold! Quick, you two get into my cab before he spots either of you."

The two girls climbed into Thomas's cab, and they looked out the back windows.

"There's a white helicopter coming at us from behind, Thomas," said Anna. "What are you going to do?"

Harold saw Thomas resting on the top of the quarry wall. "Thomas!" Harold called. "How did you get up there?"

Thomas had an idea. Slowly, without exposing his ice tracks, he inched closer to the edge of the cliff.

"What are you doing, Thomas?" asked Anna in a loud whisper.

"Just hold on," Thomas answered. "Hold on REALLY tight."

From up in the sky, Harold and Sir Topham Hatt saw Thomas inch forward to the edge of the quarry wall, and they began to worry that Thomas would fall off and get badly hurt. "Thomas!" Harold called. "Hold on! We're coming!"

But it was too late. Thomas rolled right off the edge of the cliff, and by using his ability over ice tracks, he quickly saved himself and the girls by rolling safely back onto the quarry line.

By the time Harold flew down from above the quarry wall, he only caught a glimpse of Thomas leaving the quarry. "Sir," he replied, "Thomas fell right off the quarry wall, but somehow he landed safely and precisely on the rails, and now he's raced out."

"Follow him, Harold," Sir Topham Hatt ordered. "Look for his steam and follow it."

Harold flew up into the sky and looked for clouds of steam. He did find Thomas, but unfortunately, Thomas wasn't emitting any steam from his funnel, since he was not running on steam power. "Sir," he responded. "There is no steam."

"Then you'll just have to follow Thomas extremely carefully, Harold. Don't let him out of your sight when you find him."

"Yes, sir!" With that, Harold flew off after Thomas.

Thomas raced along the tracks as fast as he could, and Harold was behind him, catching up. Soon, Thomas reached Knapford Station and hid under the shed's arched roofs.

Suddenly, Thomas looked ahead and saw Gordon coming into Knapford, pulling the evening passengers in the Express.

"Thomas!" Elsa gasped. "Get out of here, or we could be spotted!"

"Agreed," said Thomas, and he raced backwards out of the station. He hoped Gordon wouldn't see him; for fear that he might be cross about that morning.

The bad news was; Gordon did see Thomas. As soon as Gordon saw Thomas, he called out to him. "Thomas, stop!"

The good news, he wasn't cross with him; he was worried about his friend.

Gordon had to stop to allow his passengers to disembark, but he wanted to follow Thomas and get him to stop. So, he asked his guard to uncouple him from his coaches so he could follow him.

"But you can't just leave your coaches here in the middle of the station without someone to shunt them into the sidings, Gordon," the guard replied.

"Either Percy, James, or Rosie will do that," explained Gordon. "I have to find Thomas." So, without any further hesitation, he was uncoupled from his coaches, and he sped off like a rocket.

A minute later, James arrived looking grumpy. He was coupled up to the coaches, and he shunted them into the yard for the next day. But his shiny red paintwork was covered in coal dust from working with dirty coal trucks all afternoon.

Rosie then arrived to take on water. "Hello, James," she said. "What's the matter?"

"Why couldn't Gordon shunt his coaches himself?" James grumbled. "I'm such a splendid red engine; I shouldn't have to shunt Gordon's coaches for him. And now look at me; I had to collect Thomas's coal trucks from the coaling plant and take them to all the coal hoppers and stations on the island."

"At least you're helping your friend, Thomas," replied Rosie.

James knew Rosie was right, but this time, he didn't let that fact get into his mind so easily.

Then, Percy arrived to drop off Annie and Clarabel. "Hey guys," he asked. "Have you heard that Thomas was spotted here on Sodor?"

"Where?" asked James.

"He was last seen at the quarry," explained Percy.

"But he could be anywhere by now," said Annie.

"Thomas can sometimes be unpredictable," added Clarabel.

"What do we do then, Percy?" asked Rosie.

"I'm going to go look for him," said Percy. "Maybe Thomas won't run away from me."

"Okay," James and Rosie agreed.

So Percy went off to go find Thomas; and James and Rosie headed for different locations, too. Rosie headed for Tidmouth Sheds, and James went to the Washdown.

By now, Thomas had found a very snowy siding that he could hide in. It was covered by thick snowy trees from all sides; Gordon couldn't see Thomas from the tracks, and Harold couldn't see Thomas from the air. Thomas had successfully managed to evade both of them.

Also, the sun had completely gone down, and it was too dark to see with the heavy clouds in the sky without a lamp. So Thomas was completely invisible.

Elsa and Anna stepped out of his cab and came around to Thomas's front. He had his lamp on, and he was hidden deep enough so that nobody could see him, so they could easily find him.

"Thomas," said Elsa, "you can't keep hiding from your friends for the rest of your life."

"I know," Thomas admitted. "I just don't want my friends to make finding me too big a deal, especially since you two are with me, and all three of us have to stop Glacia from freezing the Island."

"So, what are you going to do?" asked Anna.

Thomas thought about it for a moment, but as he was thinking, he heard another engine coming.

It was Percy. "Thomas?" Percy called out. "Where are you?" He blew his whistle, hoping Thomas would hear him. Then, Percy stopped right beside the siding where Thomas was hiding, on the center track, facing the same way Thomas was.

"Percy," whispered Thomas. He slowly rolled forward and peered out. Percy didn't see him, but Thomas knew that Percy wasn't going to give up so easily. Thomas knew that if he was going to get out of the siding, he would have to be seen by Percy.

Thomas rolled backwards and whispered to Elsa and Anna. "Get inside my cab."

"Are we running again?" asked Anna.

"No; I'm going to be seen by someone else. I'm going to be seen by the one engine on the whole island that I can entrust all my secrets to."

"Who?" asked Elsa.

"My best friend, Percy."

Anna and Elsa looked at each other, and they then climbed into Thomas's cab. They knew Thomas didn't want to be seen by anyone on the Island of Sodor in his current condition or with them, but Percy was his best friend—the one engine Thomas told everything to, whether it was something he enjoyed discussing or not.

So, once Elsa and Anna were on board, Thomas rolled slowly forward, and he stopped right at the edge of the siding.

"Percy?"

Percy looked and saw Thomas. "Hello, Thomas," he smiled.

"Percy, I have to tell you something, but I can right now only tell you. So I have to tell you it here."

Percy didn't understand, but he trusted Thomas's words. "Okay," he spoke quietly.


	8. The Icy Night

Thomas took a deep breath, and he very slowly told his best friend the first few words of his story. "I'm not the same as I was yesterday."

Percy didn't say a word; he just stood there, in silence. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke softly. "What exactly do you mean?"

"I'll show you." Thomas slowly puffed out of his hiding spot, and he used his ice powers to generate tracks of ice that went up into the air just above the line, and then back down onto the main line, now facing towards Percy. Then, he puffed along the tracks once, and he ended up facing Percy on the middle line.

Percy was surprised. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"I acquired the power to control ice in the shape of railroad tracks, as well as move along any tracks without needing to be in steam," answered Thomas.

"But how?"

Elsa and Anna walked out from behind the snow. They came in front of Thomas and faced Percy, who was indeed surprised to see them.

"Thomas got that power from me," responded Elsa.

Percy was confused. "Who are you?"

"My name is Elsa, queen of Arendelle," said Elsa, "but just call me 'Elsa'."

"And I am her younger sister, Anna," replied Anna. "I therefore am princess of Arendelle."

Percy didn't understand how Elsa, who looked like a simple human, could possibly control ice. "You can control ice, Elsa?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Elsa. "I was gifted with my cryokinesis at birth."

"What is 'cryokinesis'?" puzzled Percy.

"It's the term meaning 'the ability to control ice and snow', Percy," answered Anna kindly.

Now, Percy almost froze. "How do you know my name?"

"Thomas has told us all about you," answered Elsa. She approached Percy and rubbed his boiler. "And aren't you a sweet little engine."

Percy blushed at being called sweet. Nobody had ever called him that before.

"Well," said Percy, "thank you." Then he looked at Thomas. "Don't you think it's about time we set off for home, Thomas?" he asked him. "It's getting late."

"No, Percy!" Thomas gasped. "I can't be seen by everyone, especially Sir Topham Hatt."

"Why not?"

"I disappeared and returned without any trace," Thomas explained. "If the other engines saw me, they would make a big deal out of it, and I can't let others see me as I am now without a clue as to what happened."

"But Sir Topham Hatt wants you to come back so you can continue to work on your branch line."

Thomas sighed. "I know, but I can't do that. The Island of Sodor is in danger, and if I don't stop that, then the world will be in peril, too." Then, Thomas began to reverse along the main tracks. "So I can't be seen by anyone!" And with that, he left, all by himself.

Percy looked at Elsa and Anna. "Why is Thomas in so much of a rush?"

"I guess he is still feeling uneasy about being back home so unexpectedly," suggested Elsa. "But I'd suppose we'd better follow him."

"Then climb in my cab, and you two can drive me," replied Percy kindly.

"Thank you, Percy," Elsa responded gratefully, and she and Anna climbed into Percy's cab.

Inside Percy's cab, Elsa and Anna saw all the controls: the whistle, the throttle, the brake, the pressure gauges, and the reverser. There was also a shovel next to Percy's coal bunker.

"What's that shovel for?" asked Anna.

"I think it's to shovel coal into Percy's firebox," Elsa suggested. She walked to the middle of Percy's cab and saw a door below her. She pulled the handle to open it. "And this must be that."

Elsa looked at the other controls in Percy's cab: the whistle was the handle hanging from the ceiling by a chain, the brake was the horizontal bar in the middle, the reverser was a long joystick on the same side, the throttle was the handle on the opposite side, and the pressure gauges were the knobs.

"Good thing we had a nap earlier," chuckled Anna.

"Yeah, that's true," agreed Anna.

Then, Percy spoke up. "Usually, I can control myself," he stated, "but I'll let you two try it out first. If anything goes wrong, I'll take control of my controls."

"Okay, Percy," smiled Elsa. "Then let's get going so we can find Thomas."

Anna picked up the shovel and shoveled coal from Percy's bunker into his firebox. Then Elsa generated an icicle that she scratched forcefully against one of the pieces of coal. It caught fire, and that started the fire in Percy's firebox.

Elsa set the reverser into forward, and then she released the brake and opened the throttle. Immediately, Percy pumped his pistons and he set off.

Percy, driven by Elsa and having Anna as his firewoman, steamed along the tracks looking for Thomas, but no matter how far he went, he didn't find his best friend.

"Thomas?" Percy called, and Elsa blew his whistle since they were in the countryside, away from other engines or people. "Where are you?"

Meanwhile, further up the line at a massive dip, the evil mistress, Glacia, was lying in wait. She had already caused a nearby lake to overflow by inserting a massive block of ice into it, and the water was flooding the dip in the track. But she had secretly covered the water with a thick layer of ice—as soon as Percy had crossed it, she would impale it with a super-sharp and strong icicle, so he would fall in and drown.

But Glacia was expecting Thomas to be the one who came up. She heard a steam engine's whistle, and she looked down the line using an ice-constructed telescope. It was too dark for her to see who the engine was, but she saw Elsa and Anna inside the engine's cab.

It's time for Thomas to feel the icy fury that I possess, she thought.

But the engine wasn't Thomas; it was Percy. He didn't see the ice on the track until it was too late. "Elsa!" he cried. "Stop!"

Elsa applied Percy's brakes, but it was too late. Percy skidded onto the ice, and he slipped around a full 180 degrees until he came to a complete stop, almost halfway across the frozen lake, which was very, very long.

Glacia, hidden from sight, came up to the ice and forced the icicle into the ice. With a sudden sound, the ice began to crack. "Let's see Thomas escape this," she cackled.

Percy, Elsa, and Anna were relieved that they at least managed to stop. "What happened to this dip?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Anna began, "but we have to…"

Suddenly, Percy heard the ice cracking. "Look!" he gasped.

Anna looked out of the window, and she gasped in shock. From way out in front of them, the ice was breaking!

"Elsa!" she cried, horrified. "The ice is breaking! Get us out of here!"

Elsa quickly pulled the reverser into reverse, put the throttle into maximum power, and released the brake. Percy's small wheels began spinning backwards as fast as they could, and he began slipping away.

Percy could see that the break in the ice was catching up… fast. He couldn't outrun the ice if he couldn't see where he was going. "Elsa!" he called. "Turn me around!"

"How?!" Elsa cried.

"Brake!"

Quickly, Elsa applied the brakes, and Percy began turning around. As soon as Percy had turned more than 100 degrees towards the opposite direction, Elsa moved the reverser into forward, and released the brake.

Percy felt his wheels spinning forward as fast as they could go, and since he was on the ice, he was going even faster. But still, it wasn't faster than how fast the ice behind him was breaking up. Fortunately, Percy had a massive head start.

"Now what do we do?" asked Anna, scared, as she kept on stoking Percy's fire as fast as she could so he could keep up steam pressure.

Percy peered ahead, and he saw the tracks rising up out of the dip far ahead. "I see tracks!" he called. "But we're not keeping straight!"

"How do I turn you, Percy?" asked Elsa.

Percy knew his wheels were turning forwards, and he realized that he was to the right of the tracks. "Elsa, brake and shift into reverse, then release the brake! But don't release the throttle!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

So Elsa applied the brakes, and pulled Percy's reverser into reverse. As soon as he was in reverse, she released the brake again.

Now Percy could see he was turning to the left. "Good job, Elsa! We're aiming to the left, so we'll stay in line with the tracks!" He still maintained his speed, and as soon as he was to the left of the tracks, he called out again. "Now shift me back into forward! We'll head towards the right!"

Elsa had to work faster than ever to keep Percy going. She braked, shifted to forwards, and released the brake again to aim Percy to the right. Once he was far off to the right, Elsa once more braked, shifted to reverse, and released the brake to aim for the left.

Anna looked behind them. The ice was still catching up fast. Then she looked ahead, and saw that they were still very far away from the tracks. "We aren't going to make it!" she cried.

Over on the side of the lake, Glacia was watching as the three of them spun helplessly along the ice as the cracks approached them fast. "Yes, little tank engine," she laughed evilly, "drown in the icy waters!" Then she cackled.

At last, the cracks were only mere inches away from Percy's wheels, and he still wasn't close enough to the other tracks.

Anna looked down in horror. "Look out!" she cried, and she grabbed her sister, petrified with fear.

Elsa noticed this too, and she knew there was nothing else she could do, so she grabbed Anna as well. Out of fear, the two of them began crying.

Percy closed his eyes too, fearing they all were going to die in an icy, watery tomb. But just as he was about to hit the water, his wheels hit something else.

"Huh?" Percy opened an eye, and he saw tracks beneath his wheels… made of ice! They held him up as the ice on the flood cracked completely open, and the freezing water splashed over him, putting his fire out, as well as Elsa and Anna. The three of them were freezing and soaked, but they were all alive.

Glacia saw this from her side of the lake, and she gasped. "WHAT?!" she growled.

Percy looked up above him, and there, floating on the icy tracks above him, was Thomas!

"Elsa! Anna!" Percy called excitedly. "We're okay! Thomas saved us!"

Elsa and Anna stopped crying and opened their eyes. They looked out Percy's windows, and they saw Thomas too.

"Thomas!" they both cried.

Thomas reversed down the track. "No time to talk, you guys," he responded. "Hold on tight."

Elsa used her ice to connect Thomas's and Percy's couplings together by creating a chain link of ice between them, and as soon as they were coupled up, Thomas pulled Percy back across the lake, floating in the sky on his tracks of ice.

Once they reached the other side, Thomas saw Glacia, trying to sneak away. "Stop trying to hide it, Glacia; you tried to harm my friends and I know it!"

Glacia was both surprised and furious at the fact that it wasn't Thomas after all. "What?! Why—you—I didn't…" she stammered. Then, she took a deep breath and angrily pointed at Thomas. "I'm warning you, you little blue tank engine; this is not over. This is just the beginning of a really bad day." With those parting words, she disappeared in a swirling snowstorm.

"Who was that?" asked Percy.

"That was the woman who is behind our planet's threat," answered Thomas. "Her name is Glacia. But we'll explain more about it later."

"Good idea," agreed Percy. "Let's just go home; it's already after midnight."

The others had to agree, so Thomas took Percy back to Tidmouth Sheds.

All the other engines were sleeping by the time Thomas brought Percy back to the sheds. So very carefully and quietly, Thomas reversed Percy into his berth.

"Where are you going to sleep?" whispered Percy to Thomas.

"Probably Knapford Yard," answered Thomas. Then, he had an idea. "Percy, when you see Sir Topham Hatt tomorrow, would you ask him to bring all the engines to Knapford Station? I'm going to explain to all of them the whole situation."

"Are you sure, Thomas?" asked Percy.

"Yes," Thomas answered. "Please, Percy, I have to fix this whole mess."

"Okay," whispered Percy. "I will. And Thomas, thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome, Percy."

Elsa and Anna climbed out of Percy's cab. They both said goodnight to him, and they kissed his cold cheeks, which made Percy blush—that warmed his cheeks up. Then, they climbed into Thomas's cab, and they set off for Knapford as Percy fell asleep.

It was 2:00 am when they arrived at the yard. Thomas reversed into a siding where no one could see him, and Elsa and Anna stepped out.

"So, Thomas," asked Elsa. "Are you sure about revealing your secret now?"

"Of course," Thomas answered. "I have to do this, because it's the only way to save the island."

Elsa and Anna smiled. "Great, Thomas," said Elsa. "I'm really proud of you for deciding this was the time to do so."

"So am I," added Anna. "I'm proud of you, too, Thomas."

Although he felt cold, Thomas smiled at his friends' cheerfulness, and when they said thank you to him for saving them, and they kissed his cheeks again, Thomas blushed, feeling warm again.

Suddenly, Anna remembered that she and Elsa were soaked and freezing. "Elsa, what are we going to do about the splashdown we had?"

Thomas had an idea. "Wait a moment," he said. He went to the nearby coal hopper, filled his bunker extra full with coal, and came back. "You both can sleep in my cab and warm up by my fire," he stated.

"Thank you, Thomas," smiled Elsa warmly. "We would really appreciate that."

"That's what friends are for."

So Elsa and Anna climbed into Thomas's cab, and Thomas's fire was soon lit.

"I'll keep my fire going," he told Elsa and Anna, "so let's all try to warm up and get some sleep."

Anna sank down onto Thomas's cab floor, which felt very warm. She took off her coat, her boots, and her socks since they were all wet. Then, Elsa sat down next to her, taking her shoes off too. The two sisters sat next to each other, barefoot, feet first, facing the warm fire.

"I think I might have gotten frostbite on my toes, Elsa," Anna told her.

"I have frostbite on my toes, too," added Elsa, "and that usually doesn't happen for me." Just then, Elsa felt a sneeze sneak into her nose. "I think I might have a cold," she sniffed.

Anna felt it too. "So do I," she sniffed.

Elsa still felt cold as well. "I think our clothes may have gotten so wet and freezing that we won't be able to sleep in them until they're dry."

Anna stood up and spoke to Thomas. "Thomas, Elsa and I will have to take our clothes off because they're too wet and cold for us to sleep in, and we didn't think to bring any others."

"That's okay," replied Thomas. "Just do what you need to do to keep warm; I'll keep my fire going."

"Thank you," said Elsa. "Good night, Thomas."

"Good night, girls."

So Elsa and Anna took off their clothes and placed them closer to the fire. They also used Anna's coat as a cozy blanket for them to sleep in. Elsa also folded her dress up and used it as a pillow for them to rest their heads on.

As soon as that was done, Elsa and Anna both lied down on the warm floor, and they gave each other a hug.

"Goodnight, Elsa," whispered Anna. "I love you."

"Goodnight, Anna," Elsa whispered back. "I love you, too." Then, the two of them rested their heads on their makeshift pillow, and closed their eyes. It was very hard for them to breathe, so even though they tried not to, they both ended up snoring.

Thomas got some sleep, too, but he didn't feel as sleepy because he had a nap earlier. Plus, he had to be ready in the morning to get away if Glacia came by. "Tomorrow," he said to himself, "Glacia will find out just what a little engine like me can really do."


	9. Glacia Strikes

It was 8:00 in the morning; Anna woke up to the sky still being gray, and the snow still lightly falling. They were still in Knapford Yard, and Thomas was sleeping as well as Elsa. So very quietly, Anna tiptoed over to the fire and grabbed her clothes. They were now dry after being beside the fire all night.

I'd better get dressed in here, but quietly, Anna thought. So she sat down and quietly put all her clothes back on.

Elsa woke up a moment later. "Good morning, Anna," she yawned sleepily.

"Good morning, Elsa," whispered Anna. "Here are your clothes, all nice and dry." Anna looked away as Elsa got herself all dressed again.

As soon as Elsa was dressed up, she peered outside Thomas's cab. She didn't see anyone, but as soon as the coast was clear, something landed on top of Elsa's head.

Anna giggled when she saw it. "Nice hat, Elsa," she giggled.

"Hat? What hat?" puzzled Elsa. She felt the top of her head, and there was indeed a hat on top of her head. She took it off and held it; it was a large, black top hat. "I wonder whose hat this is."

Thomas woke up a few minutes later. "Good morning, girls," he said.

Elsa and Anna came out of Thomas's cab with the hat. "Good morning, Thomas," they said cheerfully to him.

Thomas saw the hat in Elsa's hands. "Where did you get that?" he asked her.

"I don't really know; it just landed on my head," explained Elsa. "Why? Do you know whose hat it is?"

"Yes," answered Thomas. "That hat belongs to Sir Topham Hatt. He tends to panic whenever he loses his hat."

But while Thomas and Elsa looked concerned, Anna giggled.

"What's so funny, Anna?" asked Thomas.

"Well, I think I see the reason why he wears his hat and worries about it," she giggled. "He's called Sir Topham 'Hatt'!"

Elsa couldn't help giggling, either. But Thomas didn't smile, because he suddenly heard Sir Topham Hatt's voice. "Where's my hat?!"

Inching forward, Thomas saw all his friends gathered up at the station. "Elsa, Anna," he whispered. "Come on, we're going in."

"Okay, Thomas," said Elsa. She and her sister climbed onboard Thomas, along with Sir Topham Hatt's hat, and Thomas reversed out of the yards so he could puff into the station via the main line.

In the station, Percy stood on the line next to the Express line, which James stood on coming in from the junction. Rosie stood right next to him, facing Percy.

Sir Topham Hatt was embarrassed to be seen by his own engines without his hat, but without any moment to waste, he cleared his throat. "Everyone," he called, "I have gathered you all here because Thomas has been found by Percy, so we all are going to welcome him home once he gets here."

"Wait, sir," Percy interrupted, "Thomas said he has to explain a secret which is hard for him to explain, but we shouldn't make too much of a celebration once he's here in case he feels uneasy."

"Thank you, Percy," said Sir Topham Hatt.

Thomas came in towards the station from the back—the opposite side of the station from the junction. Thomas saw Sir Topham Hatt talking to the engines, looking worried. "Okay," he said nervously, "I'm going in."

"Do you want us to stay in your cab out of sight?" asked Anna.

"Well, I'm going to state that you girls are with me, and ask you to come out and introduce yourselves," whispered Thomas. "So yes, please stay in my cab until I ask you to come out."

"Okay Thomas," Elsa whispered back. "We will." So she and her sister stayed down in Thomas's cab as Thomas started to head into the station.

Taking one big brave breath, Thomas blew his whistle so everyone could hear him.

Sir Topham Hatt looked back, and he smiled. "Thomas! You're here!" All the engines blew their whistles and honked their horns at the sight of their friend's return.

Thomas pulled up right beside his best friend, Percy. "Hello, everyone," he said shyly.

Rosie was the first to realize Thomas looked uneasy. "Thomas, would you tell us what the matter is?"

"Well," said Thomas, "to put it simply, I'm not the same as you all saw me yesterday."

"What do you mean?" asked James.

"Would you please back up a little, James? Then I can show you what I mean."

So James reversed beyond the signal gantry, and Thomas used his powers to summon a set of ice tracks that lifted up into the air, looped over the station, and came back into the station. Then he rolled along the ice tracks, and stopped safely at the platform.

Sir Topham Hatt was amazed. "Well, Thomas," he said, "I must say, that was incredible. But how could you have done it?"

"Well, I didn't acquire that power from nowhere," Thomas admitted. "It all came from my two new friends."

"Who are they?" asked James.

That was the signal for Elsa and Anna. So, they stepped down from Thomas's cab, onto the platform, and came out into everyone's view.

"Good morning, everyone," said Elsa. "My name is Elsa, queen of the kingdom of Arendelle. I have the ability to control ice to my liking, and I have shared that power with Thomas, so he can bend ice in the shape of tracks and travel on his own without steam power."

"And my name is Anna, princess of Arendelle," Anna replied. "I am Elsa's sister, but I do not have any super powers like Elsa, or now Thomas."

After hearing that Elsa was a queen, Gordon, James, and Diesel spoke up.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness," said Gordon. "May I take you on a tour of the Island of Sodor?"

"No, Gordon," boasted James. "They're bound to want to ride on a splendid red engine, like myself."

"No, Gordon and James," oiled Diesel, "if any engine should get to bring them on a tour of the island, _I_ should do it. I am a modern diesel engine."

"Huh!" scoffed Gordon. "I am the one to pull special passengers; I am fastest and best, and I pull the Express!"

Elsa and Anna looked at each other, and Elsa spoke up. "No, thank you."

Gordon, James, and Diesel stopped.

"If any engine were to give us a tour of your island," Anna replied, "it deserves to be Thomas."

"Thomas?!" gasped Gordon. "He's just a little tank engine. He isn't as strong and fast as I am!"

"Or as splendid and red as me!" put in James.

"Or even as new and revolutionary as a diesel!" Diesel called. "What does Thomas have that we don't?!"

"I may be small, blue, and just a tank engine," Thomas determinedly stated, "but I am Number One!"

Gordon, James, and Diesel all sank backwards. "Oh, the indignity," Gordon moaned.

"Besides, now is _not_ the time for a tour of the island," Edward wisely responded.

"Quite right, Edward," Sir Topham Hatt agreed. Then he turned to Elsa and Anna. "It is an honor to have you two visit our railway, Your Highnesses," he replied, and he reached up to take off his hat, but then he remembered. "Oh, right, I don't have my hat."

Elsa smiled. "Excuse me, Sir Topham Hatt," and she revealed his hat, "but is this hat your hat?"

Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "Why, yes it is," he answered. He gladly took it from Elsa and placed it on top of his head. "Thank you so much, Your Highness."

"Please," Elsa modestly proposed, "just call me 'Elsa'."

"And just call me 'Anna'," added Anna.

Elsa looked at all the engines, and she continued speaking. "We have come here because our home is in peril, and your island is as well," she declared.

Henry was very worried. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Why, she is referring to myself," a voice called.

"Who said that?" asked Toby.

"If you wish to know, meet me at the quarry," the voice responded. Little did any of the engines know; the voice was Glacia's."

Thomas, Elsa, Anna, Sir Topham Hatt, and all the other engines rushed to Ffarquhar Quarry, and there, right in front of Mavis's shed, was Glacia.

Mavis was rather impressed to see her. "Well, hello ma'am," she began, "it is an honor to meet you."

But Glacia was angry. "Silence, you silly diesel!" she snapped, and she blasted a beam of ice at her front cowcatchers, pinning her to the tracks. Mavis tried to get herself out, but it wouldn't work; she was stuck. In only a minute, the ice encased her entirely, freezing her.

Bill and Ben, the tank engine twins, rolled up beside the shed. Once they saw Mavis, they laughed and teased her. "Looks like you're in a bit of a predicament," Bill giggled.

"Yeah," agreed Ben, "how silly of you to guess that she was friendly." The two twin engines laughed and blew their whistles at Mavis.

Glacia was cross at the thought that Bill and Ben were making a joke out of it. They must not find me intimidating enough, she thought, so she blasted at them, too!

Bill and Ben were immediately frozen in a block of ice. This made everyone gasp at Glacia's power.

Edward puffed up to them. "Don't worry, Bill and Ben. We'll get you out!"

"Don't bother, you old, blue teapot," Glacia rudely snapped. "If you even attempt to break or melt this ice, your cheeky yellow friends will pay the price."

Sir Topham Hatt stepped down, looking very cross. "How dare you interfere with _my_ railway!" he boomed. "Release my engines, and cease your selfish ways immediately!"

"This is _your_ railway?" asked Glacia.

"Indeed!" Sir Topham Hatt answered.

"No, sir, don't try to confront her!" Emily called. "That will make things worse!"

But it was too late. Sir Topham Hatt got too close to Glacia, and she struck him with her ice as well. Sir Topham Hatt was immediately frozen in her ice.

Glacia then eyed all the other engines, trembling in fear. "Now, would any more of you like to receive what I call, 'the Ice Treatment'?"

Nobody else wanted to, but Glacia angrily blasted at them anyway.

Thomas, Percy, Rosie, Elsa, and Anna all managed to get away, but one by one, their other friends were frozen as well as they tried to run. Glacia hovered in the air with her ice, blasting beams that would not miss at all of Thomas's friends she saw, freezing them immediately.

Thomas, Rosie, and Percy, along with Elsa and Anna, managed to escape to Tidmouth  
Sheds. The three little engines parked in the sheds, and Elsa and Anna climbed down from Thomas's cab.

"Okay," panted Rosie, "so now we know that woman is definitely trying to get rid of our railway, as well as us."

"What do we do?" asked Percy.

"I don't know," answered Elsa. But then, she heard a familiar voice.

"Elsa!"

Elsa turned around, and she saw Kristoff and Olaf riding on Sven towards their location.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Elsa. "You were supposed to look after Arendelle!"

"It's fine," said Kristoff. "Everyone is safe, and they all have everything they need to last a whole winter."

"Well, how did you find us?" asked Anna.

"We came by boat to find you," Olaf explained further. "All I had to do was find a ferry, tell them we were heading for the Island of Sodor, and we arrived at the Docks this morning. We were looking for you, but all we saw were engines frozen in ice."

"Those are my friends," replied Thomas. "Glacia did this to them." He looked sad, but immediately, he grew determined. "We have to stop her."

"On the ferry," Kristoff pointed out, "we all developed a plan on how we can save the world; we saw all that Glacia did, and we have an idea on how we can stop this monstrosity."

"Okay," said Anna, "let's hear it."


	10. Glacia's Warning

Over in the quarry, Mavis, Bill and Ben, and Sir Topham Hatt were still frozen in their ice prisons. Like Glacia had said, if anyone tried to get them out, they would not survive. But, apparently, what Glacia didn't know was, their ice prisons weren't permanent.

Sir Topham Hatt was the first to realize this. The ice around his body began to melt all by itself, but he still was alive, and in only a few minutes, he was thawed out.

"Oh," he groaned, and he held his head. "What happened?" He noticed that he was unfrozen, so he turned to Mavis, Bill, and Ben.

The three of them had thawed out, too.

"What happened?" asked Mavis.

"We were frozen by that woman, Mavis," Sir Topham Hatt responded, "but whatever she did, I probably suppose that given enough time, we will thaw out on our own." Then, he suddenly remembered Thomas. "Mavis!" he called, "I have to go find Thomas! Please bring me back to Knapford Station."

"Yes, sir," said Mavis.

"Bill and Ben," Sir Topham Hatt ordered, "I am relying on you two to look after the quarry until Mavis gets back. Don't let me down, especially in this time of need."

"Yes, sir," said the twins.

"Good." So Sir Topham Hatt boarded Mavis, and she set off for Knapford Station.

Meanwhile, back at Tidmouth Sheds, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf had introduced themselves, and now were telling Elsa, Anna, Thomas, Percy, and Rosie their plan to stop Glacia.

"What we have found out," Kristoff explained, "is that the ice prisons that capture living creatures with no tie to controlling ice whatsoever is temporary, as long as no exterior interference is attempted."

"What does that mean?" Percy puzzled.

"It means that as long as nobody from outside the ice prison attempts to free the person inside the ice prison," explained Elsa, "the person inside the ice prison will thaw out after a while."

"But what about the 'no tie to controlling ice' thing?" added Percy.

"If it were Elsa or Thomas that got captured," Kristoff elaborated, "then they would be unable to thaw out on their own, Percy."

"That must be because they both can control ice in some way," Anna theorized, "right?"

"That's correct," confirmed Kristoff.

Just then, Thomas heard James's whistle. Everyone looked away from the shed, and there was James, coming up with Sir Topham Hatt on board. Mavis had already dropped Sir Topham Hatt off at the station, and Sir Topham Hatt had met up with James, who had brought him to find Thomas at Tidmouth Sheds.

"Thomas," James replied, "it turns out that we all thaw out after a while on our own."

"Yes, James," Thomas explained, "it may be the case for the rest of you, but not for me and Elsa. If either of us gets caught, we won't be able to thaw out on our own."

"Then what happens if either of you _does_ get frozen in that lady's ice?" worried Rosie.

"If either Thomas or Elsa does get frozen by Glacia," Kristoff continued, "the only way to get out is to be unfrozen by the same power."

"What if we have to face her in combat?" asked Thomas.

"The only way to defeat a woman who has the power to control ice in combat is to use her power against her," Elsa answered. "I know that because it is the only way I have ever come close to being defeated."

"So while it sounds twice as risky," Olaf stated, "only the two of you can stop Glacia—that woman who froze your friends—together."

Just then, Glacia floated down from the sky. She had found Thomas and Elsa by secretly following James. "This is unbelievable!" she gasped. "You have found a way out of my ice prison!"

"We eventually thaw out on our own, Glacia," Sir Topham Hatt scolded her. "Now, this is your last warning; leave my railway alone immediately!"

"I will _not_ be told what to do by a weaker being than myself!" Glacia growled. "Besides, this will in only a matter of moments be _my_ railway!" She began to power up another, even more powerful, ray of ice to blast at Sir Topham Hatt.

But just as she was about to fire it, she narrowly dodged a similar ray of ice, fired by Elsa.

"Glacia, please!" Elsa called to her. "Stop hurting the people and engines of this island!"

Now, Glacia seemed slightly calmer. "Why should I, Elsa?" she asked.

Thomas drove off the main tracks by using his ice and parked in a wide open space between the tracks beside James. "These are my friends that you're trying to harm," Thomas retorted. With one brave puff, Thomas spoke up selflessly. "If you wish to face any of us, such as in combat, fight me."

Percy, Rosie, James, Anna, Elsa, and everyone else gasped at Thomas's altruistic words to face Glacia in combat for the sake of his friends. Even Glacia was surprised.

"You, Thomas?" asked Glacia. "You really wish to face me in combat?"

"Yes," Thomas replied.

Then, Elsa walked up beside him. "Then I'll help you, Thomas," she declared. "You and I are in this together."

Glacia was both impressed and surprised that both Thomas and Elsa were willing to put their own lives at risk fighting her just for the sake of their friends who couldn't protect themselves from her.

Glacia was still unsure if Elsa and Thomas were one hundred percent convinced that they were going to fight her, so she decided to give them one last chance to change their minds. "I must warn you, once you two come to face me in combat, there will absolutely be no turning back. Are you sure you wish to face me?"

"Of course," said Thomas and Elsa together.

Glacia closed her eyes. "I see…" Then she looked at the two of them. "Very well, then. Meet me tonight at midnight on top of Mt. Everest. We shall face each other under the light of only the Northern Lights, the stars, and the full moon. Be prepared." With those final words, Glacia disappeared in a swirling snowstorm around her.

Sir Topham Hatt stared at Thomas and Elsa, knowing that they would be putting themselves in great danger if they were to confront that woman. But he knew he couldn't change Thomas's mind, or his fate. "Thomas, you and Elsa had better get enough rest if you are going to face Glacia. By the sound of her voice, she was serious."

"Yes, sir," Thomas replied. Next, he spoke to Percy, James, and Rosie. "And you three," he stated, "If I don't come back… please take especially great care of the island."

Percy and Rosie were especially worried about their friend's safety, but they were prepared to fulfill Thomas's last wish if he didn't make it out alive. So they, along with James, agreed.

For the rest of the day, Percy and Rosie worked on Thomas's branch line as usual. Sir Topham Hatt arranged for Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf to work alongside James with delivering necessary supplies all across the Island of Sodor. And as for Anna, she had gone to the Sodor Steamworks onboard Percy to arrange for a very important request…

Meanwhile, Thomas stayed at Tidmouth Sheds with Elsa, both sleeping in to make sure they were prepared to face Glacia. Once they woke up late that afternoon, they took one last opportunity to make sure their ice powers were absolutely ready.

At last, the sun had gone down, and all the engines had come back to Tidmouth Sheds. But as Rosie came in, Thomas and Elsa were ready to head out for Mt. Everest.

Rosie looked at Thomas one more time, feeling really afraid for him. "Oh, Thomas," she whispered, "I honestly do hope you make it back alive."

"I do, too," Thomas whispered back. Then he spoke to Elsa. "Come on, Elsa, let's get going."

"Right, Thomas," agreed Elsa, and they headed off to Knapford Station first.

Anna and Sir Topham Hatt were waiting at Knapford for Thomas and Elsa. Percy was there too, getting ready to take the Mail Train.

Anna looked concerned. "Elsa," she told her sister, "I have done some research of the planet, and I have found out that Mount Everest, where Glacia said that she would be, is all the way across the continent, bordering China. It is the tallest mountain in the world, and it definitely is not easy to climb."

"Then how will Thomas and Elsa get all the way to the mountain in time?" asked Percy.

"Getting there will be easy," Thomas huffed, "it's only climbing up the mountain that is the challenge."

"It will be almost impossible to climb up the mountain in time once we get there," Elsa frowned. "The only way to climb up that mountain is on foot—not even train tracks ever climb up it." Then, she paused. "…Unless…"

"Unless?" asked Thomas nervously.

"Thomas," Anna realized, "would you please take my sister up the mountain by using your ice tracks?"

"Up the mountain?" asked Thomas. "But what if we begin climbing up the mountain and we don't make it the rest of the way?"

"Well, what if you do?" asked Percy. "That would be the biggest struggle."

"But what if… if…"

"Yes?" asked Elsa.

"What if it's a very risky and dangerous ascent?"

"It will be for a while."

"And what if Glacia drains my powers?"

"She might be able to; she is unpredictable."

"And then what if you have to face her alone, Elsa?"

Elsa sighed. "Don't worry about me."

"And what if we get separated if after fighting Glacia we're successful?" added Thomas. "Then how will I ever get back to Sodor again?"

Elsa and Anna smiled. They looked at each other, and they looked at Thomas, speaking to him together: "Because you're a really useful engine and you'll find a way."

After hearing these words, Thomas thought for a few seconds as everyone stared at him hopefully. Because I'm a really useful engine, Thomas repeated in his mind, and I'll find a way. "Then…" he said at last, "…I'll do it!"

Elsa smiled as she gave her sister a hug, and then climbed into Thomas's cab. Then, using Thomas's ice tracks, they left together for the mountain.

But as they left, Anna told Sir Topham Hatt about her and Percy's request on how to help Thomas.

Sir Topham Hatt listened very carefully. "I see," he replied slowly. "That will be very, very difficult, but if it will help Thomas and Elsa save the world, then I shall make the arrangements immediately."

"Excellent," Anna replied. "I have already placed an order for the parts necessary to construct the machine."

"But where will we get enough workers?" asked Percy.

"Don't worry, Percy," Sir Topham Hatt reassured him, "I have everything under control."


	11. Let It Go

Thomas used his ice tracks to hurry towards the mountain by maintaining a fair altitude above the ground to retain speed. But on his and Elsa's way to Mount Everest, they passed over the kingdom of Arendelle—things looked bad down there.

Elsa didn't know this, but all the people of her kingdom were safe, thanks to Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven. What she saw was a thick layer of ice covering her palace in the shape of a castle, and more ice on the roofs of every building.

"Thomas," Elsa said at last, "do you see that tall mountain to the north of here?"

Thomas looked to the north, and he saw one of the mountains he had traversed—the North Mountain. "Yes," he slowly answered.

"Look closer."

Thomas went closer, and he could faintly see what looked like a castle made of ice. What he was looking at was Elsa's ice palace. "Is that… a castle?"

"Yes," answered Elsa. "Please, I want to show you something."

"But don't we have to meet Glacia at her mountain at midnight?"

"We have time; it is only 9:00 pm."

So, without any debate, Thomas took Elsa to her castle on the North Mountain.

Thomas came to a stop right outside the front door to Elsa's ice palace, and she stepped off of his footplate. Then, she walked up to the doors and used her ice to open them. She began to head inside, but she turned to Thomas. "Please, come inside."

Thomas followed Elsa through the doors, and once he was inside, he could not believe his eyes. He stood in the center, and he saw a fountain of ice in front of him with a staircase on either side. He saw Elsa stand in front of the fountain, facing away from him.

Thomas came up next to Elsa, but he saw that she looked very unhappy. "What's wrong, Elsa?" he asked kindly.

Elsa closed her eyes and frowned as she answered him. "Thomas… I have something I need to tell you… about this place… I created it, with my own powers."

"Wow," Thomas said in amazement. "It's magnificent."

Elsa smiled slightly and chuckled. But she frowned again. "You see… when I first learned how to use my powers, my sister Anna always wanted to have fun with me—we even built a snowman just like Olaf when we were kids, and then I brought him to life years afterwards. But then one night… Anna wanted to play with me when she couldn't sleep, and… I almost hurt her."

Thomas was now surprised to hear this. "Was she okay?"

"Yes, she was… but then, when she and I were young adults, I lost my parents, the original king and queen of Arendelle, and when I was promoted new queen at my coronation…" Now, Elsa shivered out of fear.

Thomas could see Elsa was scared of her own past. "I think I understand; you had an accident, so you must've left your kingdom, fled up here, and built this lonesome palace to keep from hurting anyone, especially your sister, Anna."

Elsa glanced at Thomas. "Yes. But how did you know that?"

"I could almost feel it inside your ice," answered Thomas. "But still, why did you bring me here?"

Elsa closed her eyes in shame again. "I… I don't want the same thing to happen to you."

"But why are you worried about that?"

"I don't know," Elsa began, but just as she turned around she accidentally summoned a strong ray of ice that hit Thomas!

"OW!" Thomas called, and he backed up as the ice ray hit him in his side.

Elsa saw this, and now she grew scared again. "Oh, no," she shivered. "That is what I was worried about!" She was so scared that a slight mist of ice summoned around her body, glowing red.

Luckily, Thomas easily shook it off. "It's okay, Elsa," he assured her.

"No, it's not!" Elsa cried, looking at Thomas. She seemed to be angry, especially since the ice around her turned amber.

"Elsa," Thomas stated nervously, "I understand how you feel about hurting people you care about."

Even though she had gotten over her fear of hurting others, Elsa still held it within her heart, and it wasn't easy for her to contain it when she was angry.

"No you don't, Thomas!" she screamed at him. "You got your powers from me, and all you use them for is generating tracks so you can move. You don't understand all the suffering I've had ever since I was first learning to control my ice!"

Thomas looked at Elsa, feeling hurt. Elsa saw this in Thomas's eyes, and immediately realizing that what she did was wrong, her ice turned to a deep shade of purple. She could no longer keep herself standing up, and she dropped to her knees.

Elsa looked shamefully up at the blue tank engine. "Thomas, I'm so sorry."

Thomas saw Elsa's regret in her purple ice, so he tried to make her feel better. "It's okay."

Elsa just grew sadder, and the sadder she grew, the purpler her ice became. "It's not okay." She was now so miserable, she started to cry. "I can't escape my dreadful past, and I especially can't change it, either. But now it's all coming back to me, and you have to experience it, too." Elsa buried her face in her hands and continued crying.

Thomas felt really sorry for Elsa, but he wasn't sure how to help her feel better. So, he inched closer to Elsa, and although he couldn't hug her, he really wanted her to feel better. Plus, he had an idea he thought would work. "Elsa," he said calmly, "of course it's okay."

Elsa looked up and saw her friend looking down at her, hoping to help her feel better. "Why?"

"You're my friend, and I don't want you to feel sad."

Elsa began to stand up slowly, but once she had stood up, she immediately embraced Thomas, still crying.

Thomas felt Elsa's body hugging his face, so what he did was bend his ice tracks up to touch Elsa's body and gently squeeze her.

Despite the ice, Elsa felt warmer after feeling Thomas's ice touch her, and this helped her to relax better. She began crying less as she felt more relaxed. Still, she felt unhappy. "But what can I do to feel better?"

Thomas pondered, and then he said, "Why don't you just let it go?"

Elsa paused after hearing those three words: "'let it go'". She let go of Thomas, and her ice turned blue—she felt much better. "You're right," she agreed. "Come on, let's go."

So Thomas and Elsa headed out the castle door.

But as soon as Elsa had left the castle, the words "let it go" were sparking something in her brain. She immediately found herself to be singing.

Thomas was puzzled. "What is it, Elsa?"

"It's a song that always comes into my head when I hear the words, 'Let it go'. Therefore, it is conveniently titled, Let It Go." She continued singing as she and Thomas began to head down the North Mountain, and soon, Thomas got in on it, too.

As Thomas and Elsa continued, they kept on singing Elsa's song, but they did adjust the lyrics slightly because of Thomas's singing as well.

Elsa: It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small. And the fears that Glacia throws out can't get to us at all.

Thomas: The ice within my six small wheels as I create these icy tracks, Flows throughout my whole body, from up to down and back.

Elsa: Let it go, let it go, I am not scared of my past.

Thomas: Let it go, let it go, I can feel my ice just blast.

Elsa: We won't stop until we save the day.

Thomas: No, we won't give up…

Together: 'Cause the cold never bothered us anyway.


	12. Thomas's Sacrifice

At last, Thomas and Elsa reached Mount Everest. It was still only 9:30 at night, so now they only had to climb the mountain to reach Glacia.

But Thomas, feeling nervous about climbing the mountain after gazing at it, had a bad feeling about what he would see. "Elsa?" he asked. "Are you ready to get up there?"

"I'm ready," Elsa bravely stated. "Don't worry, Thomas; you can do it."

Thomas created a set of tracks that circled around the mountain, and wheel turn by wheel turn, he slowly began to ascend the mountain.

Meanwhile, over on Sodor at the Steamworks, Anna and Percy were waiting as their request was being constructed. Because it was going to be a very big device, it was being constructed outside the Steamworks.

Victor rolled over and saw Percy with Anna. "Hello, Percy," he smiled kindly. "Who is your friend?"

"Victor, this is Anna," Percy responded. "Anna, this is Victor; he's in charge of the Steamworks."

"It's nice to meet you, Victor," Anna smiled warmly.

"It is nice to meet you too, Anna my friend," Victor replied. But just then, there was a loud crashing noise. "Oh dear," he sighed. "Kevin!"

Kevin raced over. "Sorry boss, it was a slip of the hook."

"Typical," muttered Victor. "Kevin, you have to be careful, especially now more than ever. Anna really needs this product to be constructed flawlessly."

Kevin shook backwards and forwards, feeling very confused. "Yes, boss, I know, boss. But, I have a problem; we're running out of the parts for our construction, and I can't get everything done on my own, either; we're running out of workmen, and the machine is getting too high for me to lift."

"Don't worry, Kevin," Percy assured him. "Sir Topham Hatt has arranged for Hiro to arrive with more parts from the mainland, and Gordon and Spencer are bringing more workmen than ever."

Then, Anna heard whistles and horns from outside the Steamworks. "It sounds like everyone's arriving now," she stated.

And she was right; Hiro puffed in first, pulling flatbeds loaded beyond capacity with new parts for the machine. Next, Gordon arrived with his Express coaches filled with workers, and Spencer had more onboard his coaches.

"Great, here are the other workers and supplies for constructing our machine," Victor smiled. "Please, Hiro, take these parts to the back for now."

"Yes, Victor," Hiro replied kindly. He tooted his whistle, and he puffed further in.

Spencer wheeshed snootily as his and Gordon's passengers disembarked from their coaches. "I hope that what we're doing is well worth it," he scoffed. "After all, I, the private engine for the Duke and Duchess of Boxford, shouldn't have to pull passengers that aren't so important."

"This is important, Spencer," Gordon told him. "Our entire world is at stake, and Thomas is the only engine who can save it—so this is all being done to assist him."

Victor spoke up. "After we construct all three sections of our machine, we have to take them to the Docks to put them together; only Cranky is tall enough for that job."

Back at Mount Everest, Thomas and Elsa were still ascending to the top of the mountain. So far, they were doing okay, because they hadn't encountered any attacks from Glacia—but that was about to change.

From inside Thomas's cab, Elsa could see a massive icicle falling down towards them. "Thomas!" she gasped. "Look out!"

Thomas looked up, and he quickly used his ice track power to swerve safely around the falling icicle. "Don't worry, Elsa," he reassured her, "it'll be okay."

But up on the top of the mountain, Glacia was angrily glaring down at the brave little tank engine. He thinks he's so special, doesn't he, she thought. Well, I'll give him something more to embrace! So, she blasted a ray of ice at some loose snow, triggering an avalanche!

Thomas heard the avalanche above him, and he braked hard. "Elsa, hold on!" he called, and he began racing forward as fast as his six wheels could carry him.

Elsa peered out, and she saw Thomas was about to be buried under the snow. But, she had an idea. Thinking quickly, she generated a force field of ice above the both of them, thereby protecting Thomas from being buried alive.

Elsa was relieved, but not for long. "Oh, no!" she gasped. "Thomas, look out!"

Thomas looked ahead, and he saw that Glacia was manipulating Thomas's tracks of ice so that they ended abruptly. If Thomas got too close, he couldn't save himself.

"Cinders and ashes!" he cried, and he once again applied his brakes as hard as he could. He shut his eyes as well.

Suddenly, Elsa had an idea. Thinking quickly, she generated a chain of ice going through Thomas's cab and another one around the mountain, like a zip line.

Thomas opened his eyes and looked down. Down below him, he didn't see any tracks, and he was really, really, _really_ high above the ground. But he noticed he wasn't falling.

"What… what is happening?!" he gasped.

"It's okay, Thomas," Elsa smiled. "I've got us on an ascending zip line of ice."

"Phew," Thomas sighed. "Thanks, Elsa." Together, he and Elsa rode up the zip line to the top of the mountain, and they no longer received anymore interference from Glacia.

At last, Thomas and Elsa reached the top of the mountain, and they saw Glacia standing there. She looked grouchy.

"At last," she scoffed, "you two made it here. Nice job making it past all my defenses."

Elsa stepped down from Thomas's cab and stepped closer to Glacia. "Okay, Glacia, do you have anything else to say?"

"No," said Glacia, "except I do have something else up my sleeve—this!" She smiled evilly, and suddenly the snow underneath Thomas gave way, causing him to begin to fall.

But Thomas once again saved himself with his ice tracks. "Face it, Glacia; you can't make me fall down."

But Thomas was wrong; immediately, Glacia struck his body, temporarily freezing him, and preventing him from performing any actions. Then, she used her ice powers to remove the ice tracks from under Thomas's wheels.

Elsa saw this, and she was badly frightened. "Thomas!" Elsa gasped, and immediately, she generated her own ice tracks under Thomas's wheels in an attempt to save him.

"No!" Glacia snapped, and she blasted at the ice tracks. They were changed slightly, and they caught Thomas on his cab. Now, he was dangling dangerously over an extremely high drop.

Elsa couldn't save Thomas because Glacia was still right there. "Thomas!" she gasped. "Hold on, I-I'll think of something!"

But Thomas just looked at her. He noticed that the snow beneath her was loose, too. "Elsa, Elsa," he said. "You've got to get back on the firm snow."

"No, Thomas," she gasped, "I can save you, I can—…"

"No, you've got to do it, Elsa," Thomas interrupted. Elsa looked at him.

Thomas just smiled as the ice above his cab began breaking. "Elsa, you can do it."

Elsa's eyes began to tear up as Thomas spoke to her.

"You must save Sodor. But Elsa… thank you. Thank you for being such a great friend." At that moment, the ice holding Thomas up broke completely, and Thomas began to fall down off the mountain, presumably to his death.

Elsa looked down and her emotions completely let go. "THOMAS!" she cried. As he disappeared from sight, Elsa began sobbing.

Glacia looked at Elsa, and she ironically began to feel sorry for her. "I understand what you're feeling, Elsa," she spoke slowly.

But upon hearing this, Elsa became fueled with rage. "You're going to pay for that, Glacia!" she screamed, and she immediately began fighting Glacia on her own.


	13. To The Rescue

Over on the Island of Sodor, after a few hours of construction, all three sections of the special machine had been completed. With Rocky's massive strength, he lifted all three sections of the machine onto three pairs of flatbeds, since they were all too wide and too heavy for one engine to pull alone.

Sir Topham Hatt had called for his strongest tender engines, Gordon, Spencer, Henry, Hiro, and also Connor and Caitlin, to pull the loads to the Docks. He and Anna were going to ride on Percy and Rosie, who would go on ahead and ensure the tracks were clear.

"Okay," Sir Topham Hatt warned his big engines, "you all will have to travel at EXACTLY the same speed to safely get these machines to Brendam, and you must travel slowly and carefully."

"Yes, sir!" everyone stated. So, Percy and Rosie went on ahead into the night, heading for the Docks. Gordon and Spencer followed them, then Henry and Hiro, and lastly, Connor and Caitlin.

On their way to the Docks, Gordon and Spencer wanted to go a little faster. So did Connor and Caitlin.

"I'm sure that we should be able to speed up a little bit," Connor replied.

"Yes, otherwise it will take us a long time to get to the Docks," agreed Spencer.

But Hiro was wise and stern. "No!" he scolded. "Absolutely not! You heard what Sir Topham Hatt had said: we all have to go slowly and carefully."

"But we're fast and strong express engines," Caitlin complained. "We shouldn't have to travel so slowly."

"Well, if you go too fast," Henry replied, "you might cause an accident. And besides, Thomas needs our help. Who knows what trouble he and Elsa might get into with that woman?"

"Who's Elsa?" asked Connor and Caitlin together.

"She is the queen of a kingdom known as Arendelle," Gordon responded. "She needed Thomas's help, so she came to the island with her sister to get him to help them."

"They had to go to a very tall mountain to save the world from an evil woman," added Henry nervously. "I'm still worried about what trouble our island could be in."

"It'll be okay, Henry," Hiro assured him. "We just have to focus on getting to Brendam Docks for now."

"Hiro's right," agreed Spencer. "We'd better keep going." With that, the six big engines continued on towards their destination.

Meanwhile, back at Mount Everest, Elsa was letting her rage fuel her determination to fight. In fact, she was already giving even Glacia a run for her money—every single attack Glacia's ice did, Elsa's ice outmatched it.

At last, Glacia was beginning to tire herself out. She fell onto her hands and knees, and Elsa stepped angrily up to her. Elsa placed her foot right onto Glacia's back, and she stomped Glacia's body down to the snowy ground.

"Okay, Glacia," growled Elsa, "are you ready to give it up and admit I've got you defeated?"

But Glacia grabbed Elsa's leg, and she flipped her onto her back, and off of hers. Slowly, she stood up and eyed Elsa, albeit nervously. "Listen, Elsa," she started, "I'm not done fighting you yet."

Elsa leapt up back onto her feet, and she angrily got in Glacia's face, causing her to flinch. "I can take you on all by myself," she snarled. She held her hands up once more, and ice formed around her hands. "So you'd better be prepared for a world of pain."

Glacia scoffed at this. "You want to know what real pain is; you've forgotten that your dear friend sacrificed himself just to save you."

Upon hearing this, Elsa paused and gasped. Glacia expected her hesitation, because in that split second, she escaped from Elsa and used her ice to glide away into the night.

"Darn that lady," muttered Elsa. "She's so sneaky." But then, she remembered Thomas. "Oh, no! Thomas!" Quickly acting, Elsa used her ice to generate a long slide, which would safely bring her down the mountain. She jumped on it, and she slid down.

At Brendam Docks, the three pairs of engines were pulling in next to the main ship port. Percy and Rosie were up ahead with Anna and Sir Topham Hatt, and so were James, Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf.

Sir Topham Hatt saw his engines pulling in. "Oh, thank goodness you're here!"

"Here are the machine sections, sir," Gordon stated. "Now, we just have to assemble them."

"That's why we came here, Cranky," Percy explained. "We need you to assemble them."

"Okay," Cranky stated. "I'm ready; just bring me the bottom piece, and I'll get things started."

Anna looked at the three sections, but she frowned. "Uh-oh," she slowly stated. "It looks like those two at the back have the bottom—the ones with sleek blue and red shapes."

"Connor and Caitlin?" asked James.

"I suppose so," Anna stated. "We need to get the others out of the way before we can get the bottom piece into place."

Luckily, Salty and Porter had heard they were coming, and they came up next to Sir Topham Hatt on two nearby siding tracks.

"Don't worry, captain," chuckled Salty, "Porter an' I have been workin' all evenin' to clean the dockside."

"There is a junction where Gordon, Spencer, Henry, and Hiro can switch onto our lines while Cranky unloads the bottom section," added Porter.

"Very well," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Get to it, right away!"

So, the three pairs of engines reversed back to the junction, and Gordon and Spencer switched onto the siding, followed by Henry and Hiro. This gave Connor and Caitlin room to steam up next to Cranky the Crane so he could unload their flatbeds.

Cranky lowered his hook to the bottom piece of the machine, and chains were wrapped around it and attached to his hook. Slowly, Cranky began to lift the piece.

"Heaving hooks!" he gasped. "This is heavy!"

"Okay, Cranky," called Sir Topham Hatt, "just set it down right here, where the space is for it!"

Cranky's strong light lit up the darkened dockside in the night, which enabled him to see where the spot was. Slowly, he lowered it to the ground.

"Okay," said Anna, "nice work so far. Now we just have to set the rest of the machine up." But she looked up into the sky, looking worried. "Please, Elsa," she whispered, "please be okay."

Elsa made it to the bottom of her ice slide, and she brought it back into her body as ordinary ice. She made it down safely, so now she just had to find Thomas. But it was dark and still very snowy, so Elsa couldn't see him, or at least not very easily; there still was light from the moon and stars.

"Thomas?" Elsa called out. "Where are you?" Slowly, she began walking.

Elsa hadn't gone very far when she came to an unusually large mound of snow. "I wonder what that could be?" she asked herself. Elsa walked closer to it to investigate.

Suddenly, she heard a small, faint sound—it was the sound of someone breathing. If that was Thomas, then Elsa could tell he obviously was still alive. She noticed a small amount of snow that stuck out in a circular shape on one end, so Elsa decided to brush the snow off of that.

After a few strokes of brushing, the white snow beside Elsa began to glow brighter. She noticed this, and she brushed that snow away, revealing a flickering light. "Is this a lamp?" Elsa wondered. After thinking a moment, she remembered something else. "Wait; Thomas has a lamp. Maybe this really could be him." So, Elsa continued brushing at her original location.

In a few seconds, the white snow faded to a deep red. Elsa placed her hand to the red spot, and it felt very cold. It also felt like skin. Elsa brushed away some more snow around the red spot, and in a few seconds, she revealed Thomas's face! It was red because he had acquired frostbite.

"Thomas! Thomas!" Elsa gasped. "Are you okay?"

Thomas felt the snow being brushed away from his eyes and the rest of his face. Slowly, he opened his eyes. "Elsa?" he asked weakly.

Elsa's face lit up. Miraculously, Thomas had survived the massive drop! "Thomas!" she cried. "You're okay!"

"Yes," Thomas whispered, "but I'm freezing."

"Hold on a moment," Elsa replied, "I can get you out." Using her powers, Elsa quickly removed all the excess snow from Thomas's body.

But as soon as Elsa saw Thomas's body, she shuddered in disbelief. "Oh my gosh!"

Thomas was in worse condition than he had ever been in before; his funnel and lamp was broken, his boiler and side tanks were dented, his dome was bent, his coupling rods and axles were snapped, and his wheels were bent out of position. Also, his smart blue paint was covered in scratches, scrapes, and dents filled with snow. Only his number was, for the majority, unaffected. Basically, Thomas was in even worse shape than he had ever been in whenever he had an accident—he knew this, and he was aching badly.

"I know," sighed Thomas. "I'm a wreck. I'll never be a really useful engine again."

"Oh, don't put yourself down, Thomas," Elsa soothingly whispered. "You're the legendary blue tank engine."

"I'm not legendary, Elsa. I'm just a small tank engine that has been damaged beyond repair." Thomas's eyes began to fill with tears, but when they rolled onto his face, they froze immediately. "Sir Topham Hatt will have to send me to be scrapped."

"Sir Topham Hatt would _never_ scrap his Number One engine," Elsa told him.

Thomas knew Elsa was right. So he took a deep breath.

"Besides, you don't know for sure that you can't be repaired," Elsa continued. "All we have to do is get you back to the Island of Sodor."

"But how do we do that?" asked Thomas. "Glacia took my powers away, and I can't run in this condition."

Elsa was worried. "Don't worry, Thomas; I'll think of something."

By now, Cranky had successfully finished constructing the machine. As he slowly lowered the top of the machine into its place, Sir Topham Hatt was directing him to place it safely.

"Good job, everyone," said Sir Topham Hatt. "We now have this machine constructed and assembled."

Gordon observed it for a moment. "Um, what exactly is it supposed to do?"

"It's a Sodor Defense System," answered Anna. "It has been designed to weaken Glacia's ice powers if she ever returns to the island."

"Speaking of Glacia," Percy asked, "I wonder how Elsa and Thomas are handling her."

"Well," said Anna, "the S.D.S. is also designed to detect their ice powers and send us GPS coordinates. It's here on the control panel." Anna typed something on the keyboard, and a satellite on the top of the system began scanning for Thomas's and Elsa's auras.

A few minutes later, the signal was received, and it came up on the screen. But Anna wasn't smiling. "Uh-oh," she said slowly.

"What's wrong?" asked Porter.

"I've detected Elsa's ice powers easily, but I can't seem to find Thomas's anywhere."

Now, Rosie was horrified. "Do you think maybe something bad happened to Thomas?" she asked.

"I can't say for sure," answered Anna, "but I have a feeling that maybe, it isn't detecting Thomas's ice powers, because he might not have them anymore."

"Well, maybe he needs help!" Percy exclaimed.

"But how can we find him?" asked Anna.

Suddenly, Harold the Helicopter flew in. "Sir," he called, as he was coming in for a landing, "I've just inspected the entire island; everyone is okay."

"Excellent, Harold," said Sir Topham Hatt.

Upon looking at the helicopter, Anna suddenly had an idea. "Sir Topham Hatt," she said, "I have an idea how I can find Thomas so we can help him."

"Okay," asked Sir Topham Hatt, "what is it?"

Anna stepped up to Harold. "Harold," she asked him, "how would you be willing to fly me over to where we've detected Elsa's aura on our Sodor Defense System, so we can help her? If we help Elsa, she might help us find Thomas."

Sir Topham Hatt agreed, and so did the engines.

"Very well," said Harold, "but I'll have to refuel before heading out."

"No problem, Harold," Anna smiled.

So Harold flew off to Dryaw Station, where the airfield was, so he could refuel. Even though Harold had a helipad now at the Sodor Search and Rescue Center, he still had his airfield at Dryaw just for safety sake.

A few minutes later, Harold flew back to Brendam Docks to pick up Anna. "Okay," he declared, "I'm all fueled up and ready to fly."

"Excellent," smiled Anna. Then, she turned to Sir Topham Hatt and Percy. "As soon as we figure out how to rescue Thomas, we'll fly back and let you know."

"Great," said Sir Topham Hatt, and he handed Anna a map of their side of the world. "If you need to find the way back to Sodor, just follow the thick red line I've drawn on here connecting the island and the coordinates."

"Thank you, sir," Anna gratefully replied, and she climbed into Harold's cockpit.

"Ready for takeoff," called Harold as his rotors began to spin around. Everyone gave him plenty of room to take off, and in no time, Harold flew off towards the east through the late nighttime sky.


	14. Light in the Ice

Harold and Anna were flying through the sky, but even with Harold's strong light, it was extremely difficult to see where they were going.

"Anna!" Harold called over the howling wind. "Are you sure that Thomas will be okay?"

"Of course," Anna called back. "He will probably be lucky to have Elsa beside him."

"But will she be okay?"

"Of course, Harold," Anna answered. Then, she remembered the quarry. "Harold, do you remember back at the quarry when Thomas rolled off the cliff?"

"Yes," Harold answered. "Thomas saved himself using those ice-track things, right?"

"Yes, he did. My sister, Elsa, gave him that power. But he still could be in trouble if he lost those powers."

Harold peered into the swirling snowstorm. "Well, it's extremely hard to see where I'm going."

Meanwhile, Thomas was still stuck in the snow bank. Elsa was pacing nearby, still trying to think of a solution on their situation.

But now, Thomas was feeling colder. "E-e-ell-lll-ssaaa…" he shivered. "It's s-s-sooo f-f-free-eezin-ng…"

"Then I'll light a fire," Elsa suggested, and she began walking towards Thomas's cab. But when she climbed into Thomas's cab and opened his firebox door, she was shocked. "Oh, my goodness; your firebox is pretty banged up, Thomas. I don't think I can light a fire in this safely."

Suddenly, Elsa paused. "Wait," she said as she climbed down, "do you hear that?"

Thomas listened carefully. "I don't hear anything…" he shivered.

"I can hear a helicopter," Elsa explained. "But what kind of helicopter would be flying in this weather?"

"Helicopter," Thomas wondered. Then, his eyes lit up. "Wait; maybe that's Harold!" Immediately, Thomas began calling as loud as he could. "Harold! Harold, I'm here!"

Harold was almost directly above them, and he heard something. It was Thomas's voice, but it was hard for him to tell that. "I hear something," he said, "but I don't know what it is."

"Hold on, Harold," said Anna, "I hear it, too. Let's fly slower and maybe we can figure out what that sound is."

As Harold inched further, he began to hear Thomas's voice more clearly.

"Harold! Help me!" Thomas's voice called.

"That's Thomas!" Harold called out. "Maybe we can find him!" Immediately, he scanned the area with his searchlight.

Elsa noticed the searchlight peering through the storm. Then, she had an idea. Using her powers, she covered herself and Thomas with a large sheet of ice.

"What are you doing, Elsa?" asked Thomas.

"If the light bounces off the ice and returns to its source, that makes it easier for us to be spotted," Elsa explained.

And she was right. Anna noticed the light return to herself and Harold, and immediately, she knew what it was. "Harold!" she called. "We've found Elsa!"

"Then I'll find a place to land," Harold replied, and he slowly began to descend.

In a few minutes, Harold found a place to safely land. As soon as he was on the ground, Anna stepped out as Harold turned his engine off.

"Elsa?" Anna called. "Are you there?"

Elsa heard Anna's voice, so she called back, "Anna! I'm over here!"

Anna looked around, and through the swirling snowstorm, she saw her sister!

"Elsa!" Anna cried happily. "You're okay!" She ran over to her sister.

Elsa held her arms out, and Anna gratefully ran into them, hugging her.

"Oh, Elsa," Anna smiled, "I'm so happy you're okay."

"So am I, Anna," Elsa responded. She and Anna let go of each other so they could keep talking.

"So, do you know where Thomas is, or what happened to him?" asked Anna.

"Yes," Elsa answered. She began walking back a little bit. "He's right here."

Thomas was only a few dozen feet away from where Harold had landed, and they all saw what had happened to him.

"Oh, my," gasped Anna. "Thomas, what happened?"

"I fell off the mountain," Thomas answered weakly.

Harold and Anna gasped in shock.

"You… fell off the mountain?" asked Harold.

"Yes, I did," Thomas responded. "I don't think I'll ever be a really useful engine again because of that."

"But that wasn't your fault, Thomas," Elsa assured him. "All we have to do is get you back to Sodor."

"How can we do that?" asked Harold. "I can't lift Thomas; he's too heavy."

"No," Thomas agreed, "but Rocky can lift me; he's the Sodor Search and Rescue breakdown crane."

"Great idea, Thomas," agreed Anna, "but how can we get him here?"

"Let's just fly back to Sodor and get him," said Elsa.

"No, Elsa," Anna told her, "we can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because there are no tracks that lead here from the Island of Sodor," Anna answered.

Elsa realized her sister was right. But Thomas had a thought.

"Wait a moment," he said, "'no tracks'…" He thought, and then he smiled. "Wait, that's it!"

"What's it?" asked Elsa.

"There are no tracks between here and Sodor," Thomas stated, "so we'll just have to make some!"

"How do we do that?" asked Anna. "That'd take a lot of time and materials to build the tracks that far."

"No," Thomas corrected, "not tracks with rails and ties; tracks made of ice." He looked at Elsa. "Elsa, you remember that you created those ice tracks leading to Sodor when I first came to Arendelle, right?"

"Yes," said Elsa.

"Then you can create tracks of ice leading to Sodor on your own using your powers."

"That's a great idea," agreed Anna.

"But how will I know what direction or elevation to generate them in, Thomas?" asked Elsa.

"We have a map," Anna suggested. "You can use it if you need to while we fly back."

"But we need that to find our way back, Anna," Harold reminded her. "And we shouldn't stay here longer than we have to. Sir Topham Hatt needs us to get back as soon as possible."

"Oh, yeah," Anna sighed. "What do we do, then?"

Suddenly, Harold had an idea. "Anna, I have something in my cockpit that will definitely help."

"Okay, Harold," Anna said, and she climbed into Harold's cockpit.

"It's in the glove compartment," Harold responded.

Anna opened the glove compartment, and inside, she found something. "Pilot radios!" she smiled. She took them out and walked out. "We can use these, Elsa," she told her sister.

"How will doing that work?" asked Elsa.

"While Harold and I fly back to Sodor, we can tell you how high or low and which direction to generate the ice tracks," Anna explained.

"That's a great idea," Elsa agreed. "Then let's do it!"

"Excellent!" Thomas smiled.

So Anna climbed back onto Harold, and they began to take off. But first, Anna looked at the map, and then she spoke to Elsa through the radio. "Okay, Elsa," Anna said, "I'll tell you if you need to change direction, elevation, or both. So until I do, just keep going in the direction you're going."

"Okay, Anna," Elsa responded.

"To start, have your tracks go in the same direction as we're flying, and keep them close enough to the ground for now." Harold and Anna flew off, and Elsa generated the tracks in that direction.

As Harold and Anna flew back towards Sodor using their map, Anna kept a close eye on the tracks as well as the route they were taking. Whenever there was an obstacle in the way, or whenever Elsa had to change direction, Anna helped her to safely navigate around the landscape.

At last, they came to the edge of the sea. Anna spoke back into her radio. "Elsa, we've reached the sea, so now we just have to cross it, and we'll get back to Sodor."

But Elsa was beginning to get tired out—Mount Everest was much farther from Sodor than Arendelle was, so she had to make her ice tracks go for much longer and further than the first time. "That's great, Anna," she panted, "because I'm getting tired."

"Well, once we get there, I'll let you know, and you can have a break. And since it's the ocean, until we reach Sodor, it'll be just fairly straight and even in elevation." With that, they all continued on their way.

By the time Harold reached the Docks, it was almost sunrise. Harold landed nearby, and Anna observed Elsa's ice tracks; she helped her connect them to the main tracks, just like a railway junction. As soon as they were connected, Anna spoke to Elsa once more:

"Okay, Elsa; you did it, so you can take a break now."

Elsa was very relieved to hear this. "Thank goodness," she panted. "I need a rest." She climbed onto Thomas's footplate and lay against his side, and she closed her eyes to get some sleep.


	15. The Rescue Journey

Sir Topham Hatt was pleased that Harold and Anna had returned. "Did you find Thomas?" he asked them.

"Yes sir," Anna replied. "Elsa is with him."

"Now, how will we get him back to the island?" asked Cranky.

"That's what those tracks of ice are for, Cranky," Harold told him. "Elsa created them, and they'll lead anyone over to him."

"We'll need to get the Search and Rescue crane, Rocky, over to Thomas so we can bring him back," added Anna. "Thomas can't come back home on his own power—in fact, he simply doesn't have any powers anymore."

"We're in luck," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Percy has already gone to the Search and Rescue Center to pick him up. He, Rosie, and James should be back any moment."

A few minutes later, the sky became brighter. Even better, the snow and clouds had lightened up a lot, so now it was only a light snowfall with light gray clouds. As that happened, Percy pulled in with Rocky. Rosie came in behind him, pulling a flatbed, and James came in behind her, pulling three freight cars of coal as well as three tankers of water and another two trucks of sand. They also all had their snowplows fitted, just in case the snow proved too difficult.

"We're back, sir," Percy replied. "We brought Rocky just in case he was needed to lift Harold onto Rosie's flatbed in case he was out of fuel."

"You're one step ahead of everything, Percy," Anna chuckled.

"Yeah," agreed Rosie. "It was Percy's idea in the first place to get Rocky."

"Oh, that's okay, Percy," said Harold. "I have enough fuel to make it back to the Search and Rescue Center. Still, I appreciate the consideration."

"For a little tank engine, he's pretty smart," Anna stated.

Percy chuckled nervously. "But are you sure those ice tracks are capable of supporting Rocky's massive weight?"

"Of course," Anna reassured him. "They may be made of ice, but those tracks are pretty strong. This is Elsa's true power."

"Then we'd better get going," Rocky replied. "Who knows what Thomas might be experiencing right now?"

"Rocky's right," Sir Topham Hatt agreed. "You had better get going."

Anna climbed onto Percy, but before they left, Anna had a thought. "Sir, you should come as well," she told Sir Topham Hatt.

Everyone else agreed, and with that, Sir Topham Hatt climbed into Percy's cab as well. "Okay, then let's go," he told his rescue team.

Percy, Rosie, and James whistled, and Percy puffed off along the ice tracks, pulling Rocky behind him. Rosie followed him with her flatbed, and James followed her with his coal and sand cars and water tankers.

The three engines made their way along the ice tracks, and they were soon making good time. But unfortunately, as they crossed the sea, the wind picked up, and the light snow made the ice tracks even more slippery than ever.

Percy felt his wheels begin to slip. He began to feel worried. "Pumping pistons!" he gasped. "It's getting harder to travel safely."

"I know it's hard, Percy," Anna told him, "but we have to rescue Thomas. He's our friend, and he may freeze to death if we don't try."

Percy thought about his best friend, and the thought that Thomas would freeze if he didn't help him. Now, he felt braver and more determined to save him. "You're right, Anna; we can do this!"

"That's the spirit, Percy!" Rosie smiled. "We can do it!"

Percy remembered the slippery rails, and he also remembered that he filled up with coal and water before they started their journey, and he also had his sandboxes filled up. "I'll drop some sand to help us grip the rails," he stated.

"Great idea, Percy," said Rosie. "But James and I may need to do so, too; the snow and wind may be lighter now, but we can't be too careful."

"That's why I brought cars of sand along with our coal and water," James called.

The three engines used their sandboxes to help their wheels grip the tracks. Unfortunately, as soon as each engine's brake van had passed by the sand, the majority of it had come off; it was either sticking to their wheels or being blown off by the snow and wind.

At last, they reached the border of Asia. Anna remembered that she had the map she and Harold used earlier, so she looked at it. "Okay, we're approximately halfway to the place where Harold and I found Thomas," she replied. "Can you guys get us there?"

"Of course," the engines bravely stated. "We'll get there."

Meanwhile, Elsa had just woken up. It had been an hour since she finished the tracks of ice, and she was feeling much stronger again. Still, nobody had arrived to help Thomas.

Suddenly, Elsa thought of something. "If Thomas's friends are coming to help him," she said, "I'd better make a loop and junction off the end of these tracks so they can turn around." So, Elsa used her powers again to create a large loop for Rocky to turn safely around on. She also created another track that made a smaller loop; this way, Rosie could turn around and pull alongside Rocky so he could lift Thomas onto her flatbed.

Once Elsa had finished that, she turned her attention back to Thomas. "How are you doing, Thomas?" she asked him.

Thomas's face was as pink as Rosie's paintwork. He was still feeling very cold, and the snow was beginning to pile up on top of him again. "N-n-not so g-g-goooooddd…" he shivered. "I'm still f-f-f-freeeezzing…"

Elsa felt sorry for Thomas. She wanted to try to make him feel better, but she wasn't sure how. "Well, don't worry, Thomas," she told him. "I've had trouble with my powers before, remember?"

"Yes," Thomas shivered.

"But I slowly had to learn to overcome my troubles, and completely control my powers. Now, I'm okay with using my powers because I feel confident about using them without hurting others."

Thomas then began to shiver even more. Seeing this, Elsa sat right next to his face and rubbed it with her hands.

As Elsa rubbed Thomas's face with her hands, he felt much warmer, so he could talk without shivering. "Hurting others?" he asked. "I thought that you said you almost hurt Anna when you were younger."

"Okay, Thomas," Elsa said kindly, "I'll tell you what happened, but please don't tell anyone else."

"I promise; I won't."

"Okay," Elsa stated. "Well, when Anna tried to bring me back from my ice castle, I accidentally struck her heart with my powers. She eventually froze up when she was saving me from someone who was hunting me, but because she gave herself to save me, that thawed her out. It was called an 'act of true love'." But upon saying that, she began to worry about Thomas. "Wait; I struck you in your heart, didn't I?"

"Yes," Thomas answered. "But I don't think I have to worry about getting a frozen heart, Elsa."

"Why not?" she asked.

"Well, at the time you struck me, I possessed your powers as well," Thomas explained.

Elsa thought for a moment, and she realized Thomas was right. "You're right, Thomas," she smiled, feeling much better.

A while later, Elsa heard an engine's chuffing. "Hey Thomas, do you hear that?"

Thomas heard it too, and he realized that it was his friends coming to save him. "Hey!" he called out. "It's me, Thomas!"

Percy heard him, and he called back. "Thomas! It's me, Percy!"

In just a moment, Percy and Rocky pushed through the trees, and there was Thomas and Elsa!

"Thomas!" Percy, James, and Rosie cried, and they all whistled happily.

Anna climbed down, and she came over and hugged her sister. "Oh, thank goodness we've found you, Elsa and Thomas," she smiled.

Sir Topham Hatt climbed down and walked over. "Thomas? What happened here?"

"I fell off the mountain, sir," Thomas weakly answered.

Sir Topham Hatt, Percy, James, Rosie, and Rocky all gasped. "You fell off the mountain?!" they all asked.

"It wasn't Thomas's fault," Elsa stated, "it was Glacia; she took his powers away from him, and that's why he fell."

"Well, that's why I'm here," Rocky stated. "Rain or shine, I'm always happy to help."

So Rosie turned around on the loop so she was facing out the way she came on the track running beside Rocky. Percy moved Rocky close enough to Thomas, and James parked his trucks so everyone could refuel and fill up with sand.

Rocky soon set to work; he lifted his long crane arm, and he lowered his hook down to Thomas. Elsa and Anna helped him attach his harness to Thomas, and they stepped aside to give Thomas enough room.

"You're coming up, Thomas," Rocky told him, and slowly, Rocky began to lift Thomas out of the snow bank.

As soon as Thomas was off the ground, Elsa and Anna were shocked at his exposed side and undercarriage, and so was Sir Topham Hatt. Thomas's left side was so damaged and scratched up; he almost looked like a pile of scrap.

"Am I going to be scrapped, sir?" Thomas asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"Of course not, Thomas," Sir Topham Hatt told him. "It will absolutely take a while, but soon you'll be as good as new."

"I hope so," Thomas whispered.

"Okay, Thomas," Rocky told him, "I'm lowering you onto Rosie's flatbed."

In a few minutes, Rocky lowered Thomas onto Rosie's flatbed. He was chained down so he wouldn't fall over, and his left side was propped up as well.

At last, the engines were all filled up with water, coal, and sand once more, so they were all ready to head back.

"We'll turn around on the loop, and then we'll be ready to head back," said Percy.

"I'll go on ahead," Rosie replied, "since I'm already facing the way back."

"Very well, Rosie," said Sir Topham Hatt.

"Wait, Rosie," said Anna, "could Elsa and I get a ride back with you?"

"Absolutely," Rosie smiled. So, Elsa and Anna climbed into her cab.

Sir Topham Hatt climbed into Percy's cab, and then he spoke to Rosie again. "One more thing, Rosie: Please, once you get back to the Docks, drop Elsa and Anna off, and then go ahead and take Thomas to the Steamworks."

"Yes, sir!" Rosie replied. She tooted her whistle, and she slowly set off down the tracks of ice back towards home.

A few minutes after Rosie set off, Percy had turned around with Rocky. They followed her, and James followed them. They all were now heading back to the Island of Sodor.


	16. Thomas Tells Rosie

It wasn't easy for the rescue team to make it back to the Island of Sodor, even though the snow had lightened up. With the wind still blowing and the snow still falling, the tracks were definitely still slippery. But the three engines still had their fireboxes blazing, and their pistons pumping, so they wouldn't give up with helping Thomas.

At Brendam Docks, Cranky was looking down the ice tracks, still hoping that everyone would be okay. But as he looked out, he noticed more dark clouds making their way towards the island. "Oh, dear," Cranky sighed, "we probably will get even more snow in a while."

Porter and Salty looked out from the Docks, and they were concerned, too.

"I think the tracks are all blocked already, Cranky," Porter called out. "And even with their snowplows, I'm not sure Percy, James, and Rosie can get through the snow; it's piling up very high."

"Arrgh, yer right, Porter," agreed Salty. "We'll need some help clearin' this, matey."

The Dock Manager had arranged for Jack, Alfie, and Oliver the Excavator to come and help clear the snow from the mainline track. But they had to work quickly, because the sky was getting darker with clouds.

Oliver, Jack, and Alfie were working hard, loading snow into Max and Monty, the twin Dump Trucks. Now usually, Max and Monty would be giving the two smaller machines mischief, but they weren't today because they wanted to help Thomas any way they could. Plus, it was the least they could do to make up for the time they caused an accident on Thomas's branch line.

Max and Monty raced through the snow-covered countryside that led away from tracks and roads, and once they found the safest place to dispose of the snow, they dumped it. Then, they hurried back.

On their way back, Max began to talk to Monty. "Hey Monty, who was that little pink engine working with James and Percy?" He was talking about Rosie, but he didn't know who she was.

"I'm not sure, Max," Monty responded, "but she looks an awful lot like Thomas."

"Oh, so it's a girl, huh?" chuckled Max. "Maybe, she has a thing for Thomas."

Monty was puzzled. "'A thing'? What do you mean, Max?"

"You know… she likes him more than as a friend."

"Oh, I get it," Monty chuckled.

When Max and Monty arrived back at the Docks, Jack, Alfie, and Oliver were still working at clearing the snow from the tracks.

"Hey Oliver," said Max, "Monty and I have just been talking about that little pink tank engine who was sent to help Thomas."

"'Little pink tank engine'?" puzzled Oliver. "I've never seen a pink engine on Sodor."

Salty rolled up. "Aye, by pink tank engine, y'must mean Rosie," he stated.

"Yes," answered Monty. "That's it; Rosie." Then he turned back to Oliver. "We think that Rosie may have a thing for Thomas."

"A thing?" Jack puzzled. "What thing?"

"I think they mean, Rosie really likes Thomas as more than a friend, Jack," explained Alfie.

"Arrgh, indeed she does," Salty confirmed. "But Thomas doesn't really feel the same."

"Well," Max grinned, "maybe he'll feel the same after Rosie helps bring him back home."

"I don't think you should discuss this in front of either of them," Oliver suggested wisely. "Thomas usually isn't one for discussing these topics, as far as I'm concerned."

But Max and Monty were not so sure…

At last, Cranky could see Rosie coming in on the ice tracks, carrying Thomas on her flatbed. "It's Thomas!" he called out. "He's okay!"

Rosie puffed into the Docks, and back onto the normal tracks. She then puffed back over to Cranky so that Percy and James could safely pull in, and Elsa and Anna climbed down.

Once Percy and James pulled in, Sir Topham Hatt climbed down and came over to Rosie. "Well done, Rosie," he said. "You are a really useful engine. Now, please take Thomas to the Steamworks to be repaired."

"Yes, sir," said Rosie, and she began to puff away.

"Don't worry, Thomas," Elsa reassured him, "you'll soon be on the tracks again."

"And before you know it," added Anna, "you'll be a really useful engine once more."

Hearing these words made Thomas feel much better. "Thank you, Elsa and Anna," he smiled.

At the edge of the Docks, Rosie was stopped, as Thomas was greeted by The Pack.

"Hello, Thomas," Jack smiled. "We're glad to see you're okay."

"The snow had piled up quite a bit, so we were called here to help clear the track," added Alfie. "We wanted to help in any way we can."

Thomas felt pleased. "Thank you, Jack and Alfie. And you too, Oliver, Max, and Monty."

Max and Monty skidded up right next to Rosie. "You must be Rosie," they said together.

"Uh, yes," Rosie answered, surprised.

"I'm Max."

"And I'm Monty."

Thomas was puzzled as to why they seemed to be talking to Rosie as if they were as friendly as he was. "What's going on?"

"We're just happy you have a good friend in Rosie, Thomas," explained Monty. "One who, like Percy, you can trust, and rely on to save you if you ever run into trouble."

"Uh, thanks," Thomas said, puzzled.

"But enough of that, Thomas," Max replied. "Once you're repaired, how about we have a race for old times' sake?"

Thomas remembered what had happened the last time he raced Max and Monty. He had told them he would never race them again because of their recklessness, and after causing an accident. But Thomas still loved racing his friends, especially Max and Monty, as well as Bertie the Bus. And he knew Max and Monty had learned their lesson, so he figured that since they had helped him and Rosie with clearing the tracks, the least he could do was give them one more chance.

"Oh, okay," Thomas decided. "I'll start racing with you two again, but I want you both to promise me one thing: Please be more careful when we're racing, and if you're asked to do a job, please finish it properly."

"We promise," said Max and Monty together.

"Good," smiled Thomas.

"Well," said Rosie sweetly, "it's been a pleasure to meet all of you, but I had really better get going; I have to take Thomas to the Steamworks to be repaired."

"Of course," Jack responded, and he and his friends moved to the sides. "Go on ahead."

"Thank you all," smiled Rosie, then she tooted her whistle and set off to the Steamworks.

It was a long way to the Steamworks, and the snow made the journey even more difficult. But Rosie was determined to help her friend. Her snowplow sliced through the snow, and her headlamp shone brightly. Her pistons pumped pluckily, her boiler bubbled bravely, and her firebox flared fearlessly.

Along the way, Thomas spoke to her. "I wonder why Max and Monty seemed to act so happy when they met you, Rosie."

"I'm not sure, but…" Rosie began, but she stopped.

"But what, Rosie?" Thomas asked her.

Rosie blushed. "But… they do have a point."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Thomas," Rosie admitted, "I am always happy to help you. That's because I like you so much."

Thomas heard this, and he thought about everything he and Rosie had done ever since she had come to the Island of Sodor. The first time Rosie helped him, he had easily been irritated by Rosie's affection for him. But as time went on, he came to like her better, and she liked him more than ever. Rosie had always been there for Thomas when he needed her, no matter what, and that was because she really liked him.

Thomas hadn't really thought about it until just recently, but he secretly liked Rosie just as much as she liked Rosie. He was very shy about admitting it, however.

"Rosie," Thomas replied.

"Yes?"

"I really like you, too."

This made Rosie smile. She began feeling that maybe, just maybe, Thomas truly had a soft spot in his heart for her. "Thanks, Thomas," she smiled sweetly.

At last, Rosie arrived at the Steamworks. She puffed in, and she found Victor and Kevin waiting.

"Hello, Rosie, my friend," Victor stated. "I see you've brought our good friend Thomas in to be repaired."

"Yes, Victor," Rosie smiled. Rosie pulled her flatbed onto the turntable, and Thomas was lifted up onto the hoist.

Victor carefully examined Thomas all over. But he frowned. "I see," he finally stated. "You're in far worse condition than I've ever seen a broken engine in, my friend."

"Can I be repaired at all, Victor?"

"Absolutely, Thomas, but it will take quite a while before you're back on track."

Thomas sighed. He knew that someone else would have to look after his branch line, and he knew exactly who he wanted to do so.

"Hey Rosie," Thomas asked. "Would you do me a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Please, would you look after my branch line for me while I'm being repaired? I'm putting all my faith in you," Thomas finished.

Rosie gasped. Thomas had never asked her to look after his branch line, nor had he ever said he put all his faith in her. She didn't know how to react, but she knew one thing: she was happier than ever.

"Of course, Thomas!" she proudly declared. "You can rely on me!" As she puffed out of the Steamworks, she said something else, not expecting Thomas to hear her say it: "Oh, Thomas, I hope this will show you that I love you."

Thomas gasped. He had indeed heard what Rosie just said: that she loved him. Even though he was very shy about admitting it, he called out to her the last thing Rosie would expect to hear:

"I love you too, Rosie!"

Rosie heard Thomas, too, and she was so happy that she didn't know what to say. She just smiled and blew her whistle, and she steamed away happily.

Victor looked up at Thomas. "That was very sweet of you to tell Rosie that, Thomas."

Thomas felt very happy. "Thank you, Victor. Now, let's get me under repair."

"Right," agreed Victor.

"And Kevin… we could use a helping hook."

Kevin was happy, too. "Yes, boss—uh, Thomas, right away!" He raced around the Steamworks, but he hit something with a clang and prang. "Sorry boss! It was a slip of the hook!"

Thomas and Victor sighed; they knew it was going to be a very long time before Thomas was as good as new.


	17. Back to Summer

The next morning, Thomas was still at the Steamworks, being repaired. The good news, though, was that the snow had melted, and it felt much warmer once more. Now it really felt like summer once again.

Thomas was feeling much warmer inside. It's all thanks to my friends, he thought. Then he heard a horn honking, and Bertie the Bus pulled up outside the Steamworks.

"Hello, Thomas," said Bertie. "How are you?"

"I'm still broken, Bertie," Thomas sighed. "What are you doing here, though?"

Elsa and Anna climbed down from Bertie, and Thomas realized that he had brought them to see him.

Elsa and Anna came into the Steamworks, and Thomas was lowered down on the hoist so they could talk to him.

"Hello, Thomas," said Elsa kindly. "How are you getting along?"

"I'm doing okay, I guess," Thomas answered.

"Well, don't worry," smiled Anna. "You know what they say: better safe than sorry."

"That's right," agreed Elsa. "We're glad to see you're doing fine, Thomas. We figured we'd stop by on our way to the Docks; we have to go back to Arendelle today."

Victor heard her, and he pulled up as close as he could. "Is that so, Elsa, my friend?"

"Yes, Victor," said Elsa. "Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven are waiting at the Docks. They, along with Sir Topham Hatt, arranged for a ferry to pick us up and bring us home. I still have a kingdom to rule over, anyway."

"Well, I would imagine you must miss it," Thomas said quietly. "You haven't been home for three days now." He was happy his friends had a way to get home, but now he felt a little sad to have to say goodbye. "I guess this will be goodbye, then. But what if Glacia comes back?"

"That's why we have the Sodor Defense System at the Docks, Thomas," Victor reminded him. "If Glacia comes back, it will alert us."

"We'll know that in Arendelle as well, Thomas," Anna added. "So if Glacia does return, we'll come back to help you."

"Even if Glacia doesn't come back, we'll return to check on you while you're being repaired, Thomas," Elsa put in. "But we do have to return home."

"Okay," Thomas stated. "But Elsa and Anna… thank you for everything you've done, even if it was small."

"You're welcome, Thomas," Anna smiled.

Thomas looked like he was about to cry, so Elsa and Anna walked over to him and sat down on his front for a moment.

"It's okay, Thomas," Elsa reassured him. "We'll always be your friends, no matter how far apart we may be at any time."

"And no matter what, you're the legendary blue tank engine," Anna reminded him. "Remember?"

Thomas thought for a minute, and he did remember Elsa and Anna calling him "legendary". "Uh, I think so," he stated.

"And," Elsa and Anna said together, "you don't need us to remind you of this: you're a really useful engine."

Thomas knew that his friends were right. He no longer felt sad; he now felt much better. "Yes, I am. I might not be so now, but I will be once again one day."

Elsa and Anna smiled at him. "That's our Thomas," they said together, and they kissed his cheeks one more time.

At last, it was time for Elsa and Anna to get going. They said goodbye to Thomas, Victor, and Kevin, and they climbed back onboard Bertie the Bus. Bertie honked his horn, and he headed off for the Docks.

Bertie soon reached the Docks, where Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven were waiting beside their boat. The rest of the Steam Team and Sir Topham Hatt were there, too, and so was Rosie with Annie and Clarabel.

Elsa and Anna walked over to the stairs leading up to the boat, but before they left, Elsa faced the Sodor engines. "Everyone, thank you so much for giving my sister and me support while we were here. But alas, it is time we set off back to our home, the kingdom of Arendelle."

Sir Topham Hatt took his hat off his head, and he spoke respectfully to Elsa. "Thank you for helping us to protect our island, Queen Elsa," he spoke. "My engines and I all wish you the best of luck on your journey home."

"Thank you, Sir Topham Hatt," Elsa respectfully smiled. "And thank you, everyone else as well." Then, she waved goodbye to everyone, and climbed onto the boat.

"How is Thomas?" asked Olaf. "Why isn't he here saying goodbye to us?"

"He was damaged in our battle against Glacia," Elsa explained. "But he's at the Steamworks now, being repaired."

"We stopped there to say goodbye to him before we came here," added Anna.

"Well, thank goodness he's not missing out, and he's okay," Kristoff smiled. "He's a great friend, and he always will be." Sven grunted and nodded in agreement.

The boat's horn blared, and the ship started on its way out to sea. All the engines blew their whistles happily, saying goodbye and to come back soon. They all waved until the ship was out of sight.

At last, Sir Topham Hatt turned to his engines. "Thank you all for coming to support them on their way home. And now, we must get back to work."

The engines all tooted, and they set off for work, but Rosie stayed behind for a minute.

"Sir," Rosie said, "in case you were wondering, Thomas asked me to look after his branch line for him while he's being repaired."

"I see," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Well, I must say; that is a splendid idea, Rosie."

"Thank you, sir," Rosie smiled.

"I also have been looking into getting another engine to help Thomas with his duties on his branch line full time," continued Sir Topham Hatt. "Rosie, would you like to take that job?"

Annie and Clarabel agreed.

"You're a very lovely engine, Rosie," Annie stated.

"And really useful, too," Clarabel replied. "Thomas would be absolutely lucky to have you working with him on his branch line.

Rosie gasped with excitement. She had always wanted to be just like Thomas, and now Sir Topham Hatt had offered her the one job she had always wanted: to work alongside Thomas on his branch line. Usually, she was assigned to shunting jobs, and only worked on Thomas' branch line when he couldn't do so. But now, she would be working full-time on his branch line alongside him. And now that Thomas knew she loved him, and he said that he loved her back, she couldn't have felt happier.

"Why, sir," Rosie said happily, "thank you. I'd be more than happy to work with Thomas on his branch line full time!"

Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "That is excellent, Rosie. I'll make the arrangements right away, but I had better get back to Knapford." Sir Topham Hatt had come to the Docks on Annie and Clarabel, so his car was back at Knapford Station.

"I can take you, sir," Bertie replied.

"Thank you, Bertie," Sir Topham Hatt replied. "So Rosie, you can start work on Thomas's branch line straight away."

"Yes, sir!" Rosie happily called.

So Sir Topham Hatt climbed onto Bertie, and he left to head back to Knapford Station. Rosie tooted her whistle happily, and she took Annie and Clarabel off to run on Thomas's branch line while he was being repaired.

But even though everyone thought Glacia had been defeated, she would be back… very soon…


	18. An Unwelcoming Return

Two weeks had passed since Thomas had been brought to the Steamworks, and by now, all the snow had finally melted. Summer now felt like summer again on the Island of Sodor, and all the engines returned to their routines, with Rosie looking after Thomas's branch line.

Meanwhile, at Brendam Docks, the Sodor Defense System was still right across from Cranky, and it was up and running, keeping its sensors out. But every day, it was quiet because it hadn't detected any danger.

But that night, Cranky, Salty, and Porter were asleep at the Docks, with everything being quiet. Then, there was an alarm!

Cranky woke up immediately. "Salty! Porter!" he called out. "Emergency!"

Salty and Porter hurried over, and they looked at the SDS. Its alarm was going off, indicating that Glacia was in the vicinity of the island again!

"Swirlin' seas!" gasped Salty. "That'll be that woman again! And she's over on the other side of Sodor!"

"We need to alert the whole railroad immediately!" Porter called.

The Dock Manager called the Sodor Search and Rescue Center, and the Rescue Center Manager alerted Harold the Helicopter to fly over to the other side of the island and look out for Glacia.

Over at the Vicarstown Bridge, Glacia was sneaking onto the island from the Mainland, looking to seek revenge on Thomas.

"That oversized blue teapot is going to taste fire," she muttered, "which is an ironic statement since I harness ice."

The sky was dark as Glacia snuck onto the island, but no sooner had Glacia stepped onto the island that a spotlight from the sky lit up. It was Harold the Helicopter, and despite never directly meeting Glacia, he knew that she was the woman just by her suspicious actions.

"Halt there!" Harold called. "Put your hands up and get on the ground!"

"You don't scare me, whirlybird!" Glacia cackled. "Taste this!" She held up her hands to blast Harold out of the sky… but nothing happened! Glacia was confused. "What's wrong?" she wondered. "Why aren't my powers working?"

Harold was angry as he kept talking to Glacia. "We have a way to neutralize your powers. And if you won't listen to me, I have the police onboard."

Then a police officer in Harold's cockpit spoke to Glacia via PA system. "You have shown harmful intention to our island's residents, and we are officially authorized to use whatever force is necessary to stop you, lethal or not. This is your final warning: surrender now!"

Glacia tried to make her way off the island, but she was immediately surrounded on all sides: Belle and Hiro blocked the tracks in front of her, Connor and Caitlin blocked the bridge, Butch and Flynn surrounded her off the tracks, and Captain was waiting in the channel. They all had police officers, all armed for an emergency purpose.

Glacia still, however, wouldn't put up her hands or surrender. "If you want a piece of me, come and get me!"

Harold landed, and immediately, police officers formed a barricade around Glacia from every angle.

"This is your last chance: surrender now or we will open fire!"

Glacia realized that there was no escape at all, so she threw her hands in the air, got down on her knees, and began following police orders.

The police realized that Glacia was no longer going to strike them, so three officers walked over to her, taking great care not to let their guards down.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" asked one.

"No, sir," answered Glacia. "I am being sincere."

"Very well," said another one. "You have the right to remain silent."

The third one walked over to behind Glacia and revealed handcuffs. "Put your hands behind your back, now!"

Glacia knew she was under arrest, so she didn't put up any resistance. As soon as she was secured, a police car arrived to take her to jail. Glacia was loaded into the vehicle, and then the driver drove off to bring her to the police station, where she would then go to jail to await trial.

When Glacia was finally brought to the police station, she was brought in and led to a cell block. The officers released her, and she walked into the cell. Knowing Glacia couldn't use her powers, she began getting used to her temporary holding cell.

Back at the Docks, everyone was informed that Glacia was now behind bars, and the Sodor Defense System's alarm was turned off.

"Everything's okay for now," said Cranky. "Now all we have to do is just relax and get some sleep."

Salty and Porter agreed, and everyone settled down once again.

But later, Diesel arrived on a late-night job. He had a very wide load that Cranky was to unload in the morning, but he wasn't taking care.

"I don't see why Thomas gets all the special jobs, and I'm just left for odd jobs," Diesel muttered. He was so cross, that he wasn't looking where he was going. He shunted his load too far, and it hit the SDS, knocking it over!

The SDS didn't get smashed, but what nobody realized was that its impact on the ground had disabled its ability to neutralize Glacia's power! Diesel had made a terrible mistake, but instead of owning up to it, he was uncoupled from his load and slipped quietly out of the Docks.

Meanwhile, Glacia began feeling her powers returning to her. Realizing that she had reacquired her powers, she immediately began plotting an escape. But she wanted to not alert the police, because she knew that if she alerted them, even if she could freeze them all, they would all know she had gotten away.

Glacia tiptoed over to the opening of her cell, and carefully scanned the area. She could easily pick the lock with her ice, but the guards were standing right in front of all the exits. So she couldn't get out that way.

But when she turned around, she noticed a window leading outside. The gap was big enough for her to fit through, but it had two bars blocking it, and it was much too high for her.

"I can get out that way," she whispered. "All I have to do is just do so quietly." So Glacia focused her powers on the bars. She managed to bend them both far enough so that she could fit through the gap. Then, she generated an ice ladder, climbed out the window, and successfully escaped!

But as soon as Glacia had left the window, an officer noticed her slip out, but she didn't notice him. The police officer immediately set off the alarm, which got all the officers alerted.

"Prisoner Glacia has escaped!" the officer alerted over the loudspeaker. "Alert the whole island: Prisoner Glacia has escaped!"

The officers immediately began alerting every inch of the island through phone calls. Glacia was on the loose, and she had her powers back, but nobody knew why… yet.


	19. Strike-Cicle

Back in Arendelle, the next morning, Elsa was standing in her palace, overlooking the kingdom's town. Oh how I have missed this place, she thought. Elsa felt proud to be home, and even though she had returned two weeks ago, this morning still felt like a fresh return for her.

Then, Anna came up to her sister. "Elsa," she told her, "there's someone for you on the phone."

"Thank you, Anna," Elsa smiled. "Please, allow me to speak to whoever it is."

Anna brought Elsa to the room which contained the palace's primary telephone, where Kristoff and Olaf also were standing. Elsa took the telephone from Kristoff, who had been holding it, and spoke politely into it:

"Good morning: Arendelle Palace, Queen Elsa speaking."

The voice on the end of the line was one that Elsa was pleased to hear:

"Oh, and a good day to you too, Sir Topham Hatt. What may I do for you?"

Elsa smiled as she spoke to Sir Topham Hatt… until she heard one thing. At that moment, her eyes widened, and she nearly froze.

"Really? It's an emergency?!"

Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf were all confused.

"Well, okay; we're on our way right now! Yes sir, and good day, Sir Topham Hatt." Elsa hung up the phone, and she looked like she was panicking.

"What's wrong, Elsa?" asked Olaf.

"There's no time for talking, Olaf," answered Elsa. "We have to get to the Island of Sodor right now!"

"Why, what's the matter?" asked Kristoff.

"It's Glacia: she's back, and the SDS has stopped working! Now, she's on a terrorist rampage on Thomas's home!"

Everyone gasped in horror. They could hardly believe that Glacia was really back. But Elsa knew they had to act now, before it was too late.

Elsa turned to Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf. "You guys, get all our necessary supplies gathered up, and also prepare Sven and the sleigh; I'll call for our express ferry."

"Yes, Elsa!" her friends called, and while they hurried off to get the sleigh ready for Sven, Elsa called Arendelle's local ferry service. And since Elsa was the queen, they couldn't deny her demands.

In a matter of minutes, Sven was loaded up and ready to go. They had their winter clothes, Kristoff's ice harvesting gear, and food, water, and emergency supplies. Kristoff gave Sven a carrot as well, so he had enough energy to make it to the ferry. Elsa came out of the palace and ran over to the sleigh. "Okay," she said, "we're all set. All we have to do is head to the harbor, and our high-speed ferry will be waiting."

"Excellent," smiled Kristoff, "now, all aboard!"

Elsa, Anna, and Olaf all climbed into the sleigh, and Kristoff climbed onto Sven. "Mush, Sven!"

Responding to Kristoff's orders, Sven raced off, pulling the sleigh behind him.

Back on Sodor, Glacia had already generated a brand-new snowstorm, even more powerful than the first one, which was beginning to bury the whole island in snow once again.

"Now that the little blue teapot is out of order, nobody can stop me now!" Glacia cackled. "It's time that I show these trains just who's boss around here!" With that, Glacia hurried off in a random direction.

Glacia soon found herself at the Steamworks. She decided to have a short rest for a while, so she snuck into the Steamworks. But just before she was noticed by Kevin, she slipped behind a wall pillar.

Then, she noticed Thomas on the hoist, and that he was still alive!

"What?! You're alive?!" Glacia gasped.

Unfortunately, Thomas heard her, and he saw her, too. "Glacia!" he called. "What are you doing here?!"

Glacia slowly walked out of her hiding spot. "Well, well, if it isn't my old teapot friend, Thomas. I'm surprised that you're still alive."

Kevin noticed her, and he began speaking. "Well, it's because of me and my boss, Victor that Thomas is—…"

But Glacia cut him off. "Silence, you little clumsy clinker of a crane; I couldn't care less about that!"

Kevin felt hurt, and he backed into the rear of the Steamworks.

Victor grew cross. "You leave Kevin alone! He hasn't done anything at all to you, so what right do you have to come barging into my Steamworks being rude?!"

But Glacia paid no attention. "Back off, red guy; you won't get hurt."

Victor was very offended, but then he noticed ice radiating from Glacia's hands; she had her powers back! Immediately, Victor reversed into the rear of the Steamworks, and left Glacia to do as she pleased.

Thomas could do nothing as he watched Glacia eye him evilly. "If you think you've got a fiery spirit, just take this!" she cackled, and she blasted a spear of ice right at Thomas—it struck him right in his heart!

Immediately, Thomas began to feel weaker and weaker. "Glacia…" he panted.

Victor and Kevin rushed up, horrified. "What have you done to Thomas?!" they asked together.

Glacia just smiled. "Oh, it's nothing you need to worry about; it's not like you could do anything, anyway. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an island to rule." With those parting words, Glacia left the Steamworks.

Victor had Thomas lowered to the ground so they could get a check on him. He hadn't suffered any physical damage from Glacia's spear, but he did feel very weak.

"Are you okay, Thomas?" asked Kevin.

"I… I'm not sure," panted Thomas. He felt it harder to breathe, and when he noticed ice forming on his face, he felt very cold.

Some workmen started a fire in Thomas's firebox to keep Thomas's boiler warm, but no sooner had they stepped out of Thomas's cab… that the fire went out already! Even as they tried shoveling more coal into Thomas's firebox, the fire didn't light.

Every time the workmen lit another fire to put in Thomas's firebox, the fire went out. Then, after several attempts, Thomas's firebox froze! Now, there was absolutely no way to bring Thomas up to steam again.

"I don't understand," said Victor. "You can't seem to be warmed up, Thomas."

Thomas didn't know what to do… but then he remembered what Anna and Elsa said before she left:

"'So if Glacia does return, we'll come back to help you.'

"'Even if Glacia doesn't come back, we'll return to check on you while you're being repaired, Thomas.'"

"Maybe Elsa will know what's wrong with me," said Thomas. "She said she and Anna were coming back if Glacia did, so they must have been alerted by the Sodor Defense System."

But Thomas was both right and wrong: he was right about Elsa being alerted about Glacia was back and on her way right at the moment, but he was wrong about them being alerted by the SDS.


	20. Icy Hearts and Fiery Spirits

At Brendam Docks, Elsa's ferry finally came in. As soon as she and all her friends had disembarked from the ferry, they hurried over to the SDS, and noticed that it was damaged!

Anna was shocked. "The Sodor Defense System! It's ruined!" she gasped.

"How could this happen?" asked Cranky. "And who could've damaged it?"

"It wasn't me," said Porter.

"An' it wasn't me, either," added Salty.

"Nor was it me," stated Cranky.

Just then, Rosie and Percy puffed into the Docks, with Diesel between them. The two steam engines looked serious.

"Okay, Diesel," said Percy, "show us what you've done."

Diesel gulped, and he rattled over to the ruined device. "I… uh… I knocked this over."

Everyone heard this, and they were shocked.

Cranky was crankiest of all. "Why didn't you tell somebody about this earlier?"

"Because I…" Diesel began, but he couldn't think of telling anyone else. "…I felt it would work better if it was knocked over?" he said sheepishly with a grin.

Elsa and Anna frowned. "Nice try, Diesel," scoffed Elsa. "That doesn't fool us; what's the _real_ reason you didn't tell anyone?"

"Okay, okay!" Diesel admitted. "I didn't tell anyone because… I didn't want Thomas to get the chance to be safely repaired. He always gets the special privileges from Sir Topham Hatt."

Everyone was cross with Diesel.

"That is not an excuse, Diesel!" Percy scolded.

"Do you realize what you've done?!" added Cranky. "You've let a terrorist invade the island with her powers!"

Then, Sir Topham Hatt arrived, hearing everything. "Diesel!" he stormed. "You are a very irresponsible engine!"

Diesel felt terrible. "I'm sorry!" he begged.

"Well," said Anna, "the good news is, the damage isn't so bad, and it can be repaired quickly and easily. But the bad news is, it will be hard to find the parts necessary to fix it and Elsa and I have to find Thomas quickly. "

"I can take all the damaged parts to the foundry," said Diesel, "and they can be replaced there."

So Cranky loaded all the damaged parts onto a flatbed as fast as he could. Once it was ready, Diesel was coupled up to the flatbed.

"Then, as punishment for your jealousy and intentionally letting a terrorist onto our island, you and only you will collect ALL the supplies to repair the SDS—immediately!" ordered Sir Topham Hatt. "I hope that this will teach you to be more responsible."

Diesel knew he was in a lot of very deep trouble. "Yes, sir," he whimpered, and he rattled away to the foundry. But as he was about to leave the Docks completely, he overheard another conversation, very clearly:

Elsa and Anna looked at each other, worried about Thomas. "Sir," said Anna, "we have to find Thomas! He could be in peril if Glacia finds him!"

"He's still at the Steamworks," said Sir Topham Hatt.

"I'll take Elsa and Anna, sir!" Rosie volunteered.

"Very well, Rosie," said Sir Topham Hatt, "but be careful."

So Elsa and Anna climbed onto Rosie, while Kristoff, Olaf, and everyone else stayed behind to wait for Diesel to return with the new parts.

Back at the Steamworks, Thomas was still hooked onto the hoist, with ice beginning to form all over his body. This was because Glacia had frozen his heart, just like when Elsa had accidentally done so to Anna—the only way to restore him was an act of true love. But Thomas was beginning to worry about Elsa and Anna not being able to reach him before he completely froze.

"Victor," he wheezed, "please, let me off the hoist."

"What for?" asked Victor.

Thomas looked bravely out into the snowstorm. "I'm… going to find Elsa and Anna!"

"But you can't make steam, Thomas!" Kevin told him.

"And you still aren't in working condition enough _to_ make steam," added Victor.

Thomas breathed heavily. "I don't need steam, and I don't care if I'm not in capable enough condition to move; I'm going on my guts if I have to."

Victor wasn't sure Thomas would manage out in the snow, but he couldn't do anything else for Thomas. So, Thomas was released from the hoist and lowered onto the ground.

Thomas felt frozen from his funnel to his wheels, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. He put all his strength into his wheels, and incredibly, even without steam, Thomas began to move!

Kevin and Victor watched in amazement as Thomas slowly crawled out of the Steamworks on his own.

"Boss, will Thomas be okay?"

"I don't know, Kevin," answered Victor.

Thomas slowly crawled his way along the tracks, which were fortunately all still clear. He felt extremely weak and freezing, but he wasn't going to give up at all. Still, no matter how far he went, he didn't find Elsa or Anna.

"Elsa! Anna!" Thomas weakly called out. He would have blown his whistle, but because he was not in steam, he couldn't.

The ice continued forming on Thomas's body, but that didn't stop him. He still managed to gain some slow speed, and he was soon moving fast enough to travel at least five miles an hour.

By the time Rosie reached the Steamworks, she looked for Thomas everywhere, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Victor!" Rosie called. "Where's Thomas?"

"He went off in the snow to find Elsa and Anna," answered Victor.

"He did WHAT?!" gasped Rosie. She was horrified, and she didn't know where to go. "Well, I have them, so I'm going to find him!"

"No, Rosie," said Kevin, "we already lost Thomas out there; we can't lose you, too."

Rosie knew that Victor and Kevin were trying to look out for her, but she didn't want Thomas to die out there. She loved Thomas with all her heart and she wanted to help him, even if it meant sacrificing herself to do so.

"I don't care if I lose my life," said Rosie. "I just don't want Thomas to lose his." With those words, Rosie left.

On her way, Anna began speaking to Rosie.

"Rosie, that was very brave of you to make that decision."

"I love Thomas," explained Rosie, "and I want to save him. He said he loves me too, and I know he would do the same for me."

Upon hearing this, Anna realized that now, Rosie was the only one who could save Thomas. "Okay, Rosie," said Anna, "it's all up to you now."

Elsa knew her sister was right. "Thomas must have a frozen heart," she responded, "and only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. It can be done from either Thomas or you, but it will absolutely save him."

Rosie felt hopeful and determined now. Hearing that only she could save Thomas now, she raced off as fast as her wheels would carry her.


	21. End of the Line

Rosie ended up arriving at Knapford Station, where she found Glacia. She had already blocked the tracks ahead of Rosie, and when she tried reversing away, she was trapped again.

Glacia stepped back as far as she could go. "Hello, there," she said quietly. "I am Glacia."

Rosie was terrified. "H-h-hello…" she shivered. "I'm Rosie…"

"What's wrong, young Rosie? Are you cold?"

"I'm not sure…" Rosie shivered. "Either that or I'm scared…"

Elsa and Anna crouched in Rosie's cab, so Glacia couldn't see them.

"Elsa," Anna whispered, "you should do something."

"But I don't know what," Elsa responded. "Glacia's too strong for me. And we're trapped now."

Meanwhile, Diesel had gotten all the new parts for the Sodor Defense System, and was heading back to the Docks. But suddenly, he saw Thomas, all alone in the snow. He was still struggling to survive, as well as move.

Diesel pulled up next to Thomas. "Thomas?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to find Elsa and Anna," Thomas replied.

"They're with Rosie, trying to find you," Diesel explained.

Thomas was relieved that he knew who they were with. "Now, I just have to find Rosie," he stated.

"She went to the Steamworks to find you," Diesel continued, "but by now, she's left to find you."

"Well, I'm still not giving up," Thomas panted.

Diesel then had an idea to make up for his mistake: he buffered up behind Thomas, and shunted him as fast as he could along the tracks.

Diesel shunted Thomas all the way to Knapford Yard. They arrived out of view of Glacia and Rosie, but Thomas saw them. "Diesel," he said, "they're here!"

"Okay," Diesel stated, "do you need me to do something to stop that woman?"

"No thank you," said Thomas. "You, hurry off to do… whatever you were doing."

"I have to get these parts to the Docks to fix the SDS," said Diesel. "That's why Glacia has her powers back. I made a terrible mistake, and now I'm taking responsibility to fix it." Then, he was gone before anyone could say anything else.

Rosie was still scared by Glacia. "Please, Miss Glacia," Rosie begged, "We of Sodor haven't done anything wrong to you, so please let me go, and let us all go."

Glacia didn't do as Rosie asked. "I'm sorry, Rosie," she said, "but I'm the new ruler of this island. I've already eliminated Thomas, and if you give up now, I'll let you go without a struggle."

Rosie felt crestfallen after hearing Glacia's words, but she didn't believe her. "No!" she called. "I'd rather die than allow you to rule the island!"

"I see," said Glacia, "then I'll just show you what you're craving."

Thomas saw Glacia charging up a spear of ice, and he immediately knew what Glacia was going to do: she was going to throw it at Rosie! He had to save her, but he still couldn't get there in time.

Then, Thomas noticed an empty freight car, and coincidentally, it was right in front of a long line of junctions that led directly to Rosie, with all the points set! This gave him a last desperate idea: he reversed as far back as he could, and he charged as fast as he could at the car.

"Rosie!" Thomas called out as loud as he could, but just as he biffed the freight car, Thomas completely froze up!

At last, Diesel finally reached the Docks with all the new parts. "Sir!" he called. "I've got the parts, and I found Thomas! He wasn't at the Steamworks, though." As Cranky unloaded the parts to be placed onto the Sodor Defense System, and everyone worked fast to mend it, Sir Topham Hatt spoke to Diesel.

"What did you do with him?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"We found Rosie and Glacia at Knapford Station," Diesel answered. "Thomas was apparently able to move on his own without steam, probably by adrenaline. So as soon as we reached Knapford, Thomas asked me to leave him to act, so I did what he asked."

"Well," said Sir Topham Hatt, "I suppose we'd better go there and check on them; thank you, Diesel."

So Sir Topham Hatt climbed onto Percy, and the engines all prepared to leave, but before they did, Kristoff called out: "It's fixed!"

"Really?" asked Olaf.

"Yes," said Kristoff. He turned it back on, and it was working once more, as good as new!

"Excellent, me hearties," chucked Salty. "Now, let's get goin' to help Thomas!"

Kristoff and Olaf climbed onto Sven, and then they all left the Docks, and raced to Knapford Station as fast as they could.

The freight car raced towards Rosie, and just as Glacia fired her spear, the car rolled right in front of Rosie. Rosie closed her eyes, and Elsa and Anna prepared for impact. The spear ricocheted off the car, and then hit Glacia right in her chest! Glacia was knocked back a long distance and hit the ground hard, finally losing her consciousness.

Rosie opened her eyes. "What?" she asked. "What happened?"

Anna stepped down, and she saw that Glacia was unconscious, and therefore, not a threat anymore. She also noticed the freight car. "It looks like this freight car saved us from getting struck by Glacia," she stated.

"But how could it have gotten here?" asked Elsa.

"It had to have been shunted," answered Rosie. "But there are no other engines here except me…" But then, she noticed something in the yard and gasped.

"What's wrong, Rosie?" asked Anna, looking the same way. Then, she froze as well. "Elsa?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Look…"

Elsa looked too, and she was horrified, too. The three of them looked at what appeared to be a frozen statue in the yard. But it wasn't a statue… it was Thomas! He was completely frozen!

By now, Percy, Sir Topham Hatt, Diesel, Kristoff, Olaf, Sven, and everyone else had reached Knapford Station. All the engines, plus Annie and Clarabel, had heard that Thomas was there, so they were all arriving now. They first noticed that Glacia was trapped and unconscious, and then they all saw Rosie standing where she was, and Thomas frozen right in the middle of the yard.

Rosie realized it was Thomas, and now she was heartbroken. "Thomas!" she cried, and raced over to him, with Elsa and Anna right behind her.

Elsa placed her hands onto Thomas's face, and she realized that they were too late to save him. Her eyes began to fill with tears. "It's… too late," she whimpered.

"Too late?" asked Anna. "Does that mean…?"

Rosie began to cry. "Yes," she cried, "Thomas is… gone!"

Elsa and Anna hugged Thomas's frozen body, and Rosie came right up close to him as well, and they all started crying over the loss of their friend.

Everyone else was miserable, too. They all found it extremely hard to witness Thomas gone, and that he had sacrificed his own life to rescue his friends. The engines all went silent, and Sir Topham Hatt took off his hat in a mourning manner.

"Thomas… has sacrificed his own life to save us all," he said slowly.


	22. Feel the Sunshine

As Rosie, Elsa, and Anna cried, the ice around Thomas's heart area began to thaw out. It was only very, very slowly, but it kept going. The reason why was this: Thomas truly loves Rosie, so he had sacrificed himself to save her by shoving the freight car between her and Glacia's ice spear. He didn't even get the chance to see it happen, but it worked. And that qualifies as an act of true love, which is what is necessary to thaw a frozen heart. So since Thomas had performed an act of true love, his heart was now thawing out!

While Thomas's heart thawed out, his body started to feel warmer. Anna was the first to feel it, and she stopped crying just a little. "Thomas?" she whispered.

The ice continued melting slowly from Thomas's body. All the engines noticed it as well, and they all became hopeful. They were all hoping Thomas would completely thaw out.

Soon, the thawing began to speed up. It thawed Thomas's firebox from inside, and the coal that was inside lit up again, creating a fire to help him warm up. As the fire sizzled, Thomas's boiler began to warm up, and all the ice in it began to melt, and create steam. The steam flowed out of Thomas's funnel, and upon seeing it, everyone who did realized that Thomas was alive!

Finally, the last of the ice on Thomas's body thawed out. Immediately, Thomas began to breathe again!

Elsa and Anna looked up at Thomas, and Thomas looked down at them. Upon seeing that their friend was okay, Elsa and Anna became filled with joy.

"Thomas!" they cheered together, and they hugged Thomas's face. They immediately began kissing him, too.

Rosie stopped crying, and she noticed Thomas as well. "Thomas!" she cheered. Then Rosie noticed she actually began jumping slightly. Taking advantage of this, she jumped off the rails and braced herself against Thomas's body, which functioned as a hug.

All the engines whistled happily, excited that their friend was back. Everyone was happy, and Thomas had successfully saved both his home and Elsa's home!

At last, the snow began to melt once and for all. Glacia was once again captured and arrested by the police, and brought to a special prison; this one was impenetrable, especially via ice powers. So this time, Glacia had absolutely no more chances to rule the island.

Thomas felt much happier when he finally felt the summer sun warm him back up. "I'm happy that the summer's finally back," he sighed happily.

Immediately after everyone had finally given Thomas their gratefulness, Rosie took him back to the Steamworks so that he could be completely repaired. It took him only two more weeks until he was repaired completely and ready to be really useful once again.

The next morning, the snow had all completely melted, and the weather felt like summer again. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, the air was warm and fresh, and everyone was happy.

Thomas was asked by Sir Topham Hatt to go to Vicarstown Station that morning. He wasn't sure why, but he was asked to bring Annie and Clarabel as well.

"What could Sir Topham Hatt need me to go to Vicarstown for?" Thomas asked his coaches.

Annie and Clarabel knew why, but they didn't say anything, because it was a surprise. "We're not sure," they said together.

At last, Thomas reached Vicarstown, and he could hardly believe his eyes: all the engines were gathered there, and all the people of both Sodor and Arendelle had gathered there, too. Thomas pulled up at the empty platform, and he saw Elsa and Anna standing on the platform. Anna noticed him too, and she came over to talk to him.

"What's going on?" Thomas asked.

"It's a surprise," said Anna. "Elsa's getting ready to make an announcement… an announcement for you."

"For me?" Thomas was confused.

Elsa held up a microphone, and she began to talk. "Good morning, everyone," she said, "I am very pleased that all of you were able to come here today. The reason we are gathered here today is to pay tribute to the Island of Sodor's Number One engine: Thomas."

There was a lot of cheering and whistling after hearing this, and Thomas then realized what was going on: everyone was thanking him for saving both their homelands.

"Thomas is a really useful engine," continued Elsa, "and as you can see, he may only have six small wheels, a short stumpy boiler, a short stumpy dome, and a short stumpy funnel. But as my sister, Anna, and I have experienced first-hand, there is much more to this tank engine than meets the eye. Thomas is a loyal, brave, and helpful friend, and a hero to all of us."

Elsa then came up to Thomas with the microphone. "Thomas," she said, "is there anything you'd like to share with us?" She held the microphone to Thomas.

Thomas thought for a moment, and then he knew exactly what to say:

"Sometimes, the bigger engines look down on me as a common shunting engine, and not really useful for bigger jobs. But after I met Elsa and Anna, I realized that while I may be small, and I may be a tank engine, there is one thing I am that nobody else is: I am the Number One engine. I never knew the significance behind my number, but now I do. The reason why I am Number One… I have earned it. I am indeed a hero, but I am not just Thomas the Tank Engine. I am Thomas… the _Legendary_ Tank Engine."

"Thank you, Thomas," said Elsa, "for volunteering to save our world, and succeeding. Our two homelands may be far apart in distance, but as of now, we shall no longer be far apart in spirit."

Elsa launched her ice powers into the sky, and they formed two long lines of tracks leading between Sodor and Arendelle. They connected at the end of the line near Vicarstown, and the end in Arendelle was still able to be changed by Elsa. But there also was still a permanent shape for a primary set.

"As of today," Elsa finished, "the Island of Sodor and the kingdom of Arendelle… are one." Everyone cheered after hearing it, and as for her and Thomas… they received a very special round of applause.

From that day on, Thomas and Elsa travel between their two homelands very often. Their homes, Sodor and Arendelle, will from now on always be acquaintances to each other, so that everyone between both can still be close to each other. And as a special reward, both Thomas and Elsa have become saviors to always be remembered—the day of the initial celebration had now become an annual holiday to commemorate the two brave heroes.

When Elsa stood in her palace, looking down at Thomas on the ice tracks, she smiled and closed her eyes. Then, she spoke these words:

"Thank you forever, Thomas the Tank Engine… the Legendary Tank Engine."


End file.
